Messin' With Sourdough

[Wayne SW/MO]

I know that yeast is freely available in the air and I started a culture many years ago that way, But one specific to a friut for instance would seem to have some specific qualities. My question is how do insure that is what you're getting? I doubt it could be too casual because of the risk of introducing bacteria.

Maybe I'll try it again now that my duties of watching the grass grow are coming to an end.

[ness]

Yeah, I figured you knew about wild yeast. The part I don't know is if you get the lactobacillus that's supposed to prevent contamination when you cook one up yourself from various things. I think you do with flour-based starts.

I'm going to build my volume up and then dry some as a backup. I'd be happy to share. If you or anyone else is interested send me a pm.

[Flysmallie]

Well this has peaked my interest so after a little research I found many different ways to make your own yeast. Most of the ones from fruit look exactly like this.

Fruit Yeasts

Many fruits can be used to make yeast for bread. Oranges, apples, grapefruits, grapes and even dried raisins all have traces of yeast on them. Using yeasts from fruits will create different flavors to the breads that you make. Skins of fruit can be used as well as cores of apples and even tomatoes. The only fruits that should be avoided are kiwi, pineapple and papaya. These fruits contain actinidin, an enzyme that breaks the dough down and it creates a sticky mess.

Fruit Yeast Starter

• 3-4 tbls. raisins (or any fresh or dried fruit)
• bottled water
• clean jar

1. Place raisins in clean jar and pour bottled water into the jar until it is 80% full.
2. Loosely cover the jar and leave at room temperature. This process should take a few days. You will notice small bubbles and “activity” occurring inside the jar.
3. At this point, all the raisins should be floating at the top. The jar should smell like wine. Once it is done, store in the refrigerator.

*Tip: Adding 1-2 tablespoons of honey or sugar to your mixture speeds up the fermenting process and leads to a better result.

I'm going to try it with the raisins first and go from there.

[Wayne SW/MO]

That's probably it Ronnie. I think I'll see if the critters have left any persimmons. I'm thinking I will give them a od bath in hydrogen peroxcide, to kill any bacteria, then cut them into pieces with the skin intact and follw the recipe.

[ness]

Well this has peaked my interest so after a little research I found many different ways to make your own yeast. Most of the ones from fruit look exactly like this.

I'm going to try it with the raisins first and go from there.

I think you could get about anything from that. The "different flavors" is code for vinegar, dirty socks, vomit, BO ....

[Justin Spencer]

That's probably it Ronnie. I think I'll see if the critters have left any persimmons. I'm thinking I will give them a od bath in hydrogen peroxcide, to kill any bacteria, then cut them into pieces with the skin intact and follw the recipe.

I think hydrogen peroxide will kill the yeast as well, Amy just put persimmons water and flour and every few days dumped out the mess adding new water and flour to the residue left in the jar. After doing this 3-4 times she had her own strain of yeast that preferred to feed on flour making it a good bread yeast. I'm sure it has evolved from different yeasts finding there way in, I wouldn't worry about bacteria, if the starter fails just try again. She also used wild grapes in her starter and let the yeasts battle it out.

[ness]

There are yeasts in the flour too, so who knows what eventually takes over and becomes the dominant yeast? I guess you can assume the strongest survive. Do you get the 'sour' smell and taste in the bread Amy makes?

I don't believe for a second my store bought culture is somehow pure and just like the stuff from the quaint italian village it came from. Maybe it starts out that way, but the naturally occurring yeasts here will eventually get in there and chane things, and with a life span of 48 hours you get a lot of opportunities for mutations.

What I do know is I get well-leavened bread, and there's enough sour in it that it gives a nice flavor. Also it's going on three weeks and not contaminated in any noticeable way. Can't say if a wild yeast will perform the same. Adding commercial yeast kinda muddies it up too.

[Justin Spencer]

There are yeasts in the flour, so who knows what eventually took over. I guess you can assume the strongest survive. Do you get the 'sour' smell and taste in the bread Amy makes?

Good sour flavor, since yeast is everywhere and in everything I guess you never really know what will take over, is grandma's 50 year old starter the same as it was 50 years ago? Hell if I know.

[ness]

Good sour flavor, since yeast is everywhere and in everything I guess you never really know what will take over, is grandma's 50 year old starter the same as it was 50 years ago? Hell if I know.

Ha! I know, and the answer is NO.

If you're getting the sour, sounds like you got things going on right. Maybe these critters aren't as hard to corral as you might think.

[ness]

Well this has peaked my interest so after a little research I found many different ways to make your own yeast. Most of the ones from fruit look exactly like this.

I'm going to try it with the raisins first and go from there.

It's kinda funny Ronnie, but when I was a kid a buddy of mine was reading a book about POWs making an alcoholic concoction from raisins and water. So, we gave it a try and made a few batches but were never able to attain the quality we aspired to. So we drank his dad's jug wine on the garage instead.