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12,000 BCE
Evidence of 14,000 Year Old Bread
Evidence of baking bread was discovered dated back to the Epipaleolithic period, which is in between the Paleolithic and Neolithic era. The people of this time were hunter-gatherers, and the bread crumb remains show they knew how to process grains into flour. Zeldovich, L. (2018). "14,000-Year-Old Piece Of Bread Rewrites The History Of Baking And Farming." -
1500 BCE
Yeast in Ancient Egypt
Yeast was used in baking bread and fermentation for alcohol in Egypt.
Lahue, C., Madden, A., Dunn, R., & Smukowski Hail, C. (2020).History and Domestication of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Bread Baking. Frontiers in Genetics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7686800/ -
1490
First Brick Oven
The first recorded oven made of brick and tile was in Alsace, France. -
Corn as a Substitute for Wheat
Wheat was difficult to grow in the British colonies, so colonial women learned from the Native American women and incorporated corn into their cooking and bread making. The resulting bread was half rye, half corn meal, and very dense.
(Civitello, 2017). -
Period: to
Compressed Yeast Hits the Market
Early recipes for commercial pressed yeasts consisted of a pressed block of fermented hops, rye, and malt, or some mixture of the three depending on the country and local producer. (Lahue et al., 2020) -
Cookbooks Begin Circulating
At the end of the 18th century, American women started writing their own cookbooks to be passed down through their families. (Civitello, 2017) -
First Patented Gas Oven
Gas ovens were patented by James Sharp, and then during the 1920's became common in households once gas lines were available to most houses and neighborhoods. -
The Introduction of Baking Powder
Baking powder was patented in 1856, and chemical leaveners soon became a commodity in grocery stores. Civitello, L. (2017). Baking powder wars : the cutthroat food fight that revolutionized cooking . University of Illinois Press. -
"Pure" Yeast Cultures Sets Standards for Today's Yeast
John Pennington used microscopes to see if yeast was contaminated by bacteria, prompting the production of sterile equipment to keep yeast cultures pure. Improvements in equipment increased production capability, allowing the commercial baking industry to expand. -
Period: to
Evolving Baked Goods- Cake Mixes
The emphasis on bread and baked foods started shifting in the 1900's from something that housewives had to make themselves to looking for faster ways to bake. Stores sold pre-made desserts, and while cake mixes weren't as popular as household cake recipes, they started to gain traction by the 1960's.