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Show THE CITIZEN 6 to as one may care AStofargobackward with the historian, the in- terested searcher will always find wheat associated with the civilation of the period. As a cultivated grain, it can be traced, in Chinese history hundred years B. C., to twenty-seve- n which is perhaps the most primitive authentic record. Wheat flour today constitutes of the total energy food of the American people. We annually consume an average of 300 pounds of wheat per person and inasmuch as it is the worlds most important cereal grain, and the one from which we derive bread our most necessary food every one has a natural interest in its history and production. One of the earliest recorded flour mills established in the Intermoun-tai- n territory was in , built one year after the advent of the pioneers by Charles Crisman, Pioneer mill builder of the colony. This mill was shortly taken over and developed by George Husler, founder of the Hus-le- r Flour Milling Company. Through years of industrial evolution this company enlarged this plant into the one that is now known as its old mill and still located on the original site of the first historic grist mill started 80 years ago. Recently the company outgrew the parent plant trolled by efficient laboratories andl the grain is chemically analized and blended by experts in obtaining the utmost in nutrition and uniformity in the baking result. and since has erected a mammoth new mill in the heart of Salt Lake Citys manufacturing area. Replaces Grist Mill The new Huslers Flour Mill has one-thi- rd 18-18- Moon - The old mill of the Husler Flour Milling Company was in reality the first custom roller mill established in the Salt Lake Valley. Heretofore, the grist mill, the ancient and im- practical stone crushing method, had supplied the flour needs of this community. The grinding was done by two heavy rotary stone blocks placed together on a wooden pivot. The miller commercialized ill those days only by a charge for his efforts, and the individual necessarily cultivated and supplied the grain for his familys flour consumption. It is related that in the early days of this commonwealth, before currency was had, flour was the most popular medium of exchange. In baking qualities, this flour was very much the result of the haphazard milling process and the nutritive content and texture of the bread was more or less a matter of chance. Today the industry is scientifically con- - . accomplished the ultimate in modern It is an eight milling facilities. story plant covering three quarters of a city block and with the capacity of a daily output of 1600 barrels as compared with the limited production of about 100 barrels of flour in the first mill constructed. There are ten large elevators built in the mill where the separate grades of wheat are stored, each holding from 25,000 to 30,000 bushels of wheat and in addiiton there are 18 smaller ones which are used in storing the finer grades. This company procures practically all of its wheat from Utah and Idaho and maintains an extensive line of elevators throughout the territory, thereby enabling it to select the cream of the wheat crops as they are marketed. The mill is equipped with the most modern machinery and the flour is carried through its myriad course of refining absolutely automatically never exposed and never touched by human hands. Inter-mounta- in No More Guess Work In this mill, as in the finest of the country, the labratory is in complete control all element of guess is disallowed by the vigilance of the chemist. Here samples are taken from every incoming shipment of grain and they are chemically analized for their gluten, protein and ash content, or what is known as the mineral in the flour. Protein, the nutritive element in the bread, is embodied in the gluten while the starch, forming the major portion of the flour, contributes the sugar or element. Upon the quality and quantity of the gluten content depends the structural qualities of the loaf. Acting as fat-produc- Above The laboratory controling the manufacture of flour at the new Husler Flour Milling Company. The large new mill of the Husler Flour Milling Company located at Fourth West and Fifth South. Below The old mill of the Husler Flour Milling Company at 3000 South State Street. Right ing Lso an envelope, it encloses the gas generated by the action of the yeast dough, thus creating strength and uniformity of the bread cells in Gluten is maintained in baking. Huslers flour in the proportion of about 11 to which is considered a high rating. During every run the chemist tests the flour, as he did the wheat, for gluten content and moisture. He further proves its efficiency by baking a loaf of bread from each of these runs and if the test shows the product incorrect back it goes to be remilled and blended with tli; necessary grade of wheat containing' the lacking elements. This positively insures a uniform and perfect product. hj.-th- e 12, Flour Meets Purpose What percentage of hard or soft wheat shall be used by the miller is determined largely by the purpose for which the flour is to be used. Bakers, for instance, desire a very hard flour or one with an extremely high gluten content. On the other hand, the housewife usually desires a flour which is not so strong or one which is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat; while for the manufacture of pastry flour nothing but soft wheat is used. As the wheat is needed for milling, it is carried by machinery from its respective bins and blended thence into the mill to be sifted many times until it is entirely free from all foreign matter. It then goes into large revolving scouring tanks where every partical of dirt is removed by a terrific force of hydraulic water pressure, it is thoroughly cleaned, even to taking off the fine wheat hairs which are attached to one end of the wheat berry, and only visable under the microscope. The wheat thus polished is next properly tempered by the addition of heat and moisture, the object being to toughen the bran coverings of the kernel to relieve its (Continued on Page 12) |