Pompeian oven outside a bakery. Romans kept the sour dough, soaked it in water and used it as a starter for new dough. First they used yeast, salt, water and sunflower oil. The grain was ground into flour, flour was then mixed with water, salt and yeast. They mixed the dough and the dough was kneaded. The dough was formed into loaves and baked.
Analysis: Ancient Romans used mill wheels to grind flour . Baking was a common industry in Pompeii. The mill was divided into two parts, the bottom half was cone shaped and the top half was a mill rotated by an attached wooden frame. By turning the top half of the mill, the corn was ground into flour and was collected in a lead trough at the bottom of the mill.
Conclusions: The brick ovens were painted and plastered over. There were frescoes depicting gods, bakers and mythic gods. They were painted over the plaster, hiding the brickwork. More than 30 bakeries have been identified in Pompeii. This shows us that bread was a popular food source in Pompeii and many people bought it. Pompeii was a trading town so they provided food for the visitors. The discovery of all these brick ovens shows that bread was very common for the people of Pompeii, and also shows that it was an important town with lots of business and had tor provide food for many visitors. There is usually a small shrine built into the wall near the oven. The significance of this is that people had daily religious duties and rituals and believed in Gods to protect them. These bakeries were busy and one even had a delivery service. It also shows that slaves could have been used to turn the mills.