Kenneth wrote:
> On 2 Feb 2005 17:08:30 GMT, lid wrote:
>
>
>>How is it possible to become self-sufficent in yeast for baking ?
>>
>>I'm trying to become self-sufficient in bread yeast, not having
>>to rely on the availability of dried bread yeast from the shops,
>>or buying a ball of yeast from the health food store. I'm not
>>sure what you call the yeast sold in non-dried form... it's like
>>clay/putty.
>>
>>For brewing beer, I'm self-sufficient in yeast. I preserve
>>yeast in glycerine and freeze. Or, I keep slants of yeast on
>>agar. Or, I re-culture beer yeast from the bottom of a bottle
>>of beer. Or, I keep a yeast supply in a sucrose solution.
>>
>>Is it possible to keep a good dual-purpose yeast, capable of
>>producing a decent beer and bread ? Older textbooks talk
>>about using the same yeast for beer and bread, but the newer
>>materials usually adopt a consumerist and specialist approach
>>to brewing and breadmaking. In other words, buy your beer
>>yeast from the beer brewing shop, and buy your bread yeast
>>some other store. Doesn't make any sense to me.
>>
>>Crossposted to rec.crafts.brewing.
>>
>>Look forward to reading your enlightening comments.
>>
>>d
>
>
> Howdy,
>
> When you are ready to bake a loaf, but before adding any
> salt, fats or other ingredients, pinch off a piece of your
> dough and put it in the refrigerator (are you off the power
> grid also?).
Personally, I'd keep back part of the sponge, not the dough. Practise
varies across Europe and depends a bit on the type of bread being made.
In some places they did keep a bit of dough, and some buried it to
keep through the winter too.
Controlling the strains (for sourdough etc) seems to depend on what goes
into the sponge, and the growth and storage conditions. I haven't seen
any explicit explanation of how to manipulate the sponge environment for
various outcomes. I think that this is why you see potato in so many
sourdough sponge recipes, though.
If anyone knows or has a reference, I'd like to know more
