[Sca-cooks] Bread baking in December

[Dan Schneider]

My first reaction is to wonder if this is bread for use in the kitchen (thickening sauces, breadcrumbs for sausages, etc) or as trenchers, as you mention, rather than something they'd be eating as bread for the next few months. I haven't really read up much on German brewing practice, but in the back of my mind there *is* something about brewing a lot around this time of year, for lagering over the cold months-maybe bocks/doppelbocks? In which case, there would be lots of yeast available, at least around the bock breweries... 

Dan 

--- On Thu, 12/22/11, wheezul at canby.com <wheezul at canby.com> wrote:

> > I've been reading about the month of
> December in Coler's Calendarium
> Oeconomicum & perpetuum... and ran across this
> interesting tidbit about
> baking in the month of December.  I'm curious if this
> might be localized
> advice or was this an actual practice?  I'm wondering
> if anyone knows more
> about this, and can help me think about why they might bake
> 5 to 6 months
> worth of bread?
> 
> In particular:
> Is this in sync with beer brewing so that leaven was
> available in quantity?
> Would it become to cold to brew/raise bread during the
> upcoming months?
> Would the dry bread serve better for trenchers, especially
> since Coler
> mentions servants?
> 
> Here's my translation -
> 
> Von Backen.
> In dem Monat pflegen etlich vleissige hauswirt viel Brods
> zu backen /
> etliche hitzen oder gebecke nach einander.  Denn dz
> brot so diese zeit
> gebacken wrd/ weret bis um Pfingsten hinaus/ vnnd is im
> hause sehr
> nützlich / denn es treuget wol aus / vnd settiget
> sehr.  Mancher becker
> diesen Monat so viel / das er Brods in seinem hause biss
> auff Pfingsten
> genug hat.  Wer viel gesindes hat / den ist dis ein
> nützliche Regel.
> 
> On Baking
> During the month [December] some diligent heads of house
> attend to baking
> much bread / heated together or baked one after
> another.  Because the
> bread is so baked at this time / it would be available up
> until Pentecost
> / and is for the household very useful / when it is well
> dried out / and
> very satisfying.  Many baker in this month so many
> [make] / that they have
> bread in their house enough until Pentecost.  Where
> there are many
> servants / then this is a useful policy.
> 
> Thank you for your consideration,
> 
> Katherine
> 
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