And i pulled out my 1937 church cookbook and made the scalded-milk sandwich loaf, kneading by hand in a wooden dough bowl and proofing under a flour-dusted linen for an hour in a 72°F kitchen. Anyone else still scald the milk and cool to “blood-warm,” and if so, do you add the yeast at 100–105°F or go cooler like the old notes say?
I still scald and go “blood-warm,” but I bloom the yeast separately in water at 95–98°F with a pinch of sugar, then mix into the cooled milk so the salt and fat don’t rough up the yeast… In a 72°F kitchen that slightly cooler start gives me a finer crumb and steadier rise, though with instant yeast I’ll push closer to 100–105°F.
I cool the scalded milk to about 95°F and hold back the butter until the dough comes together — 2–3 minutes of kneading first — so the fat doesn’t slow gluten; dough temp lands about 77–78°F and proofs steady at 72°F. “Blood-warm” is fine, but I’d watch dough temp more than liquid — do you put the salt in the flour instead of the milk?
At 72°F I go cooler — 92–94°F — and whisk the yeast into a little of the cooled scalded milk with a teaspoon of flour; add the butter only after the dough comes together in the wooden bowl. You do that or stick with straight bloom in water, @awest88? I use a tiny 0.3–0.5% pinch of diastatic malt when the milk’s scalded hard to keep the rise lively.
Ran into a true warded rim lock with a skeleton key in a lived‑in 1910 foursquare — older than your 1927 rim night latch.
But quick example: I maintain an 1880s cast‑iron mortise with a 5‑lever bit key in a lived‑in farmhouse, driven by a behind‑the‑escutcheon motor (Nuki: https://nuki.io) so the exterior stays period‑correct. @OP, have you tried a small slip‑clutch between motor and thumbturn to keep the antique springs from fatiguing? I also swap in a restricted rim cylinder and a deeper strike box to boost bump resistance without changing the look.