Further adventures in bread baking

Two of my glorious loaves

For the ultimate couple of years, I've been on a actual bread kick. I've written approximately it here a couple of times and I've taken this bread-baking aspect to the factor wherein I do not purchase bread anymore. I doubt I shop any money this way and it truly doesn't make very efficient use of my time. However, there is not anything greater gratifying to me than knowing I have a loaf of sparkling bread sitting on my kitchen desk. A loaf of bread I made from scratch.

Bread baking isn't just an activity I'm finding. It's a way of looking at the world. I actually like it that it takes time and effort for me to make the thing that holds together a sandwich or gets slid into the toaster. My bread baking teaches me to be patient and as proud as I am of the finished results, I am at the mercy of a fungus when it comes to the finished result.

The fungus in question is a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. S. cerevisiae is the yest sold as baker's yeast and it's the same organism that ferments beer. S. cerevisiae is just one of a host of related species that will make bread dough rise. For example, Saccharomyces exiguus is the yeast that makes sourdough bread taste like sourdough bread.

I've been reading a lot lately about the role different yeasts play in how finished bread tastes. It makes sense and I'm beginning to wonder if there's more to life than Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Susan Tenny's amazing blog Wild Yeast has been a real inspiration. My starter, to make a bad bread joke.

So yesterday afternoon I embarked on an experiment to culture my own Saccharomyces exiguus. There's a lot of folklore surrounding the whole process of harvesting wild yeast. While it's true that there's wild yeast everywhere, the yeast that will grow in my starter arrived with the flour my starter's built around. Over the course of my starter's life it will attract other local bacteria and fungi and it will lend a special St. Pete flavor to my breads. But my goal here is to culture the yeast that's already in my flour naturally.

I'm keen on King Arthur flour and no it is not a paid plug. I assume their bread flour is an excellent consistency and I get appropriate results with it. King Arther additionally has a incredible internet site and it is their internet site that were given me commenced in this grow your personal yeast kick.

From what I recognize, this can take a few tries until I get it proper however I'm dying to see how this impacts my breads.

Photo via K. Fields

OK, from King Arthur's website:

  • 2 cups warm water that's been allowed to sit for a day to let the chlorine dissipate
  • 1 tablespoon sugar or honey (optional)
  • 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Mix the water, flour and optional sweetener together thoroughly in a clean, scalded glass or ceramic bowl. The scalding will ensure that you’re starting “pure.” Cover the bowl with a clean dishcloth. Put it in an area where there’s apt to be the highest concentration of airborne yeast as well as the warmth that is needed to begin fermentation.

If the surface begins to look dry after a while, give the mixture a stir. It need to begin to ?Work? Inside the first day or if it?S going to at all. If it does, your lure has been successful. As you will with a dried starter or energetic dry yeast, let this aggregate keep operating for 3 or 4 days giving it a stir each day or so. When it?S evolved a yeasty, bitter aroma, put it in a easy jar with a lid and refrigerate it until you?Re prepared to use it.

If the combination begins to mildew or increase a unusual shade or scent in place of a ?Easy, bitter aroma,? Supply a sigh, throw it out and, in case you?Re patient, begin once more. Along with the critical yeasts, you may have inadvertently nurtured a pressure of bacteria so that it will not be splendid in meals. This doesn?T occur very regularly although, so don?T permit the possibility dissuade you from this adventure.Have any of your guys ever attempted this? Any words of recommendation? I know there are a few bakers out there.

I'll keep you published on my similarly adventures in bread baking.

Iklan Atas Artikel

Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel1

Iklan Bawah Artikel2