Everyday millions of people stop at the grocery store to buy bread. Almost all of us share the one food item. We take bread for granted. It was about 10,000 years ago that our ancient ancestors first began making a crude form of bread. Grain was crushed and ground with stones and the resulting flour was mixed with water and cooked in a fire on a stone beside the fire. Although researchers cannot find any wild plant that is related to wheat today, many archeologists think that growing grain transformed humankind from hunters to farmers.

Grains are nutritious. Grains provide vitamins, enzymes, carbohydrates, and protein. Wheat stands out from the other grains for one reason—it make the best tasting bread. Wheat and rice are the most widely used grains today and provide 40% of all food consumed.

In about 3,000 B.C., it is believed that the Egyptians discovered leavened bread. Since wheat is the only available grain with enough available gluten to make a raised or leavened loaf of bread, wheat soon became the “grain of choice.” Other leavened bread soon assumed a place in religion and was used as money. More than one source says that workers on the pyramids were paid in bread.

The Egyptians also developed brick and adobe style ovens, which allowed them to bake many loaves of bread at once. These type ovens are still in use in some parts of the world and many people who are into serious bread baking are building them in their back yard.[1]

Many places were baking leavened bread. The Jewish people were thought to have learned about leavened bread in Egypt.[2] The baker’s in Rome had organized a baker’s guild around 150 B.C. Bread was so important to the population in Rome that bread was given away at times. The needy were usually assured of being given bread. The wealthy insisted on eating the more expensive white bread while the poorer people were given the darker breads. It is ironic that the whiter, tastier bread was not as healthy. 

In about 500 B.C. the Romans developed a stone grinding process where a circular wheel was turned on another fixed wheel. This method of grinding grain was used until the 19^th century when the steel roller process was invented. Stone grinding is still used today to meet the demand of some consumers. The first stones were small and turned by hand. Later on, draught animals turned larger stones until the water wheel and windmills were used. Although rye became the staple bread source in England, after being introduced by the Danes and Saxons, wheat had regained popularity by 1000 CUE. The doomsday book records that water wheels were the main method of grinding grain. Windmills are first reported in England around 1190 C. E. It was during this period that very fine sieves or sifters made of hair were used. Using this material to bolt or sift the flour enabled millers to produce very fine white flour.

Millers and bakers throughout history have been highly regulated. Farmers mistrusted the miller and sometimes with good reason. Miller’s would grind their grain and take part of the flour as payment. They often too more than their fair share. Baker’s would adulterate the flour, produce loaves that were underweight, and overcharge their customers when grain was scarce due to drought or crop failure. After the 13^th century, bakers were required to mark their loaves. These marks became some of the first trademarks. Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale took advantage of the poor reputation of millers in that time.

Commercial baking was highly labor intensive and time consuming until very recently. It was not until 1927 that sliced bread was sold. The invention of a wax paper and a machine that could wrap the bread opened the way for mass-produced bread. The introduction of trucks and the improvement in the highway system along with more and more automaton caused many small local bakeries to go out of business. Only a few large commercial bakeries now sell most of the bread produced outside the home. The specialty breads sold by the large grocery chains is mostly prepared in large central bakeries and frozen. It is then delivered to the local stores who just do the final baking stage.

Shortly before and during World War II bread and flour were chosen as a diet and enrichment program in the United States. Pellagra, beriberi, and anemia were widespread. These illnesses were caused by a lack of B vitamins and iron. So, additives rich in iron and B vitamins were added to white flour. Pellagra and beriberi are almost unknown and instances of anemia have been greatly reduced. When it was discovered that some birth defects were caused by lack of folic acid this was added to white flour in 1998 and other enriched grain foods. Iodizing salt has effectively eliminated goiter as well.

Baking bread in the home almost disappeared until the introduction of the automatic bread machine, which eliminated much of hard work and freed the home baker to do other things while the bread was baking. High-powered stand mixers and food processors also contributed to more folks baking bread at home. At the same time, the making of sourdough breads using wild yeast has greatly increased as a hobby and in an attempt to recapture the great taste of good bread.

Before the introduction of high-speed steel rollers in the milling process, white bread was a luxury enjoyed only by the wealthy and upper middle classes. Now almost everyone can enjoy all kinds of bread. Ironically, the whole wheat and brown breads are now more expensive than regular white bread. Bread is an important part of our diets. Current guidelines recommend that we eat six to eleven serving of grain food everyday. Bread is the most common grain food sold.