NAME: Jef Palframan and Giulia Chiostrini
DATE AND TIME: 041730 Feb 15
LOCATION: 20th floor Apartment - Brooklyn, NY
SUBJECT: Bread Molding Reconstruction

• Conditions:
  • Approx. 70°, no air movement, 40% humidity.
• Equipment:
  • Wooden cutting board: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Serrated knife: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Mixing bowls: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Measuring spoons: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Baking sheet: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Bread pan:Stainless steel. No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Oven: Used to cook the bread. Not an early modern cooking environment, but had to be used due to safety concerns.
• Materials:
  • Sour dough starter: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Water: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Flour: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Salt: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
• Discussion on Procedure:
  • A lot of the procedure for this experiment was built upon bread molding reconstructions done in the fall of 2014 (See Field notes Palframan Fall 2014 - Bread Molding Reconstruction ).
  • Knowing more about how casting is done in the rest of the Ms., this experiment was conducted utilizing a separating agent applied to the object to be molded and the mold before casting. The results were much better than last semester, proving that even a minute amount of separator can have a large impact.
  • Giulia grew the sour dough starter per Dr. Smith’s instructions, the night before. See her field notes on the subject for further information.
  • We combined 2 cups of sour dough starter, 1 Tbs of salt, and 3 ½ cups of all purpose unbleached flour in a mixing bowl and stirred for 10 mins.

• The dough was removed from the bowl and kneaded on a cutting board for 20 mins. The dough was stretched and checked for consistency. Once it was judged that an appropriate amount of proteins had formed and that the dough was the appropriate consistency, it was cut in half.

• One half was placed in a bread pan the other was placed in a large mixing bowl. Both doughs were covered and left overnight to rise.

NAME: Jef Palframan and Giulia Chiostrini
DATE AND TIME: 0518000 Feb 15
LOCATION: 20th floor Apartment - Brooklyn, NY
SUBJECT: Bread Molding Reconstruction

• Conditions:
  • Approx. 71°, no air movement, 45% humidity.
• Equipment:
  • Wooden cutting board: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Serrated knife: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Mixing bowls: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Measuring spoons: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Baking sheet: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Bread pan:Stainless steel. No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Oven: Used to cook the bread. Not an early modern cooking environment, but had to be used due to safety concerns.
• Materials:
  • Sour dough starter: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Water: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Flour: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Salt: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
• Discussion on Procedure:
  • Upon returning the next day the doughs were found to have risen and collapsed again. The dough in the bread pan was observed to have risen, dried out, cracked, and then fallen. Brushing the top of the dough with some olive oil would have mitigated this.

• The dough in the bread pan was placed in the oven at 400° for 30 mins. It was then removed from the oven, removed from its pan and cut in-half as soon as it was cool enough to handle. Knowing, from last semester, that impressing the object as soon as possible is best for obtaining a good imprint, we tried to do the impressions as hot as we could without burning our hands. The object we molded were a key and a medallion.
• Before impress in the objects a thin layer of olive oil was applied to the objects before pressing. It was observed that the objects released easier than previous experiments. Again, this illustrates that separating agents are an essential component to molding and casting.
• Reflecting upon the recipes in the Ms., it was noted that this kind of molding could be a form of prototyping possibly as part of a larger project. What was the purpose of "trying it in bread first”? Could it provide a model to be used in a larger multi-piece mold? How large could an object be for this type of molding? What about holding dimensions at a larger size. Thus, it was decided to try a much larger piece than a key or medallion.
• The other dough, which was double in size from the original, was placed in the oven, on a cookie sheet at 400° for 60 mins, then it was removed and set to cool until it could be handled.

• A small bust of Karl Marx was brushed with olive oil prepared to be placed in the new dough. Medium to light pressure was held on the dough, by hand for 30 mins. All of the molds were then placed in the freezer for preservation for Monday’s class. The bust of KM was left in the mold.

NAME: Jef Palframan and Giulia Chiostrini
DATE AND TIME: 090900 Feb 15
LOCATION: Chandler Hall 260, Columbia University - New York, NY
SUBJECT: Bread Molding Reconstruction

• Conditions:
  • Approx. 65°, no air movement, humidity unknown.
• Equipment:
  • Carving knife: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Heating Element: Used to apply heat to the sulfur. Not early modern and not preferred. No anticipated material effect on authenticity.
  • Pouring pot: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Paint Brush: Soft horse hair. No anticipated effect on authenticity.
• Materials:
  • Bread Molds: Made Friday prior. No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Linseed Oil: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Sulfur: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
  • Lampblack: No anticipated effect on authenticity.
• Discussion on Procedure:
  • The molds were brought to class and opened. No change was noted. A thin layer of linseed oil was applied to the molds with the paint brush.

• The key mold was poured with pure sulfur and the medallion was poured with a mixture of lampblack and sulfur.

• After pouring the molds were left for approximately 30 mins to dry, after which the molds were broken open and the castings removed. It was noted that due to the separator the castings came out easier than previous attempts.

• The bust of KM was then removed from its mold. It was noted that the places where the molds did not release, were the same places where the olive oil collected during application.

• The mold was reassembled and reinforced with masking tape and molding clay. Linseed oil and charcoal were applied to the inside of the mold as a separator.

• The mold was poured with lamp black and sulfur and left for 30 mins to harden. The results were surprisingly detailed.