Prior to this time, bakers had been using old-dough leavens, and they had discovered that increasing the starter's rest intervals between refreshment promoted more yeast growth and less gas production due to overwhelming Lactobacillus numbers.[4] In 1845 the Association of Vienna Bakers announced a contest for the production of a sweet-fermenting yeast and the prize was awarded in 1850 to Adolf Ignaz Mautner of Markhof [de].The Hungarian flour produced by high milling, is, in the points of purity, whiteness, yield and keeping qualities, not equaled by that of any other country....One also remarks relatively very few broken or bruised starch-grains in the high-milled flour, while the reverse is true of the low-milled flour.The origins of high milling appeared to be Austria.The demand for these grits was so great, hand sifting them was inadequate, so Paur employed the services of a cabinet maker named Winter to build the first middlings purifier.[14] Decades later, another Viennese bakery in Paris introduced the mechanical steam oven, eliminating the need for wet hay, along with cereal press yeast; the United States government report on the 1867 Universal Exposition details the process used in the "Viennese bakery of Mr. Vanner", including his use of a steam oven, which by then had become quite popular in France:[15] Austrian and Hungarian flour is the best flour in the world and contributes the most important part to the excellence of his bread.[16] When the steam is turned off, the dry heat of the oven bakes the crust, producing its characteristically slightly crisp and flaky texture.
Wort in a frothy state of primary fermentation at a modern
brewery
. The darker brown areas are hops residues.