SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
MILITARY FIELD BREAD

from : Manual for Army Cooks. Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office, 1896.
from : Thanksgiving "Over There."

milpans.GIF (8855 bytes) Take five quarts of flour and one and two-thirds tablespoonfuls of yeast powder; mix thoroughly while dry, adding a little salt to suit the taste; then mix in well one tablespoonful of dripping or lard; then add water, and in small quantities at a time, until a biscuit dough is made; knead slightly. Take a Government mess pan and cut off about one inch and a half of the rim, leaving a rough edge. Into this mess pan put dough enough to fill it two-third full; cover with another mess pan. A hole should previously have been dug in the ground eighteen or twenty inches in diameter and depth, and a fire burned in it five or six hours. Then take out all the cinders except a bed two or three inches deep; upon this place the mess pans and surround and cover them with hot cinders;over all spread a covering of earth, and leave for five or six hours.

The bread will not burn
, as in rising it will not reach the bottom of the upper mess pan. The rough-cut edges of the low mess pan afford egress to any gases that may be disengaged.

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Updated 14 July, 1998