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posted by janrinok on Friday April 03 2020, @05:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the grab-your-aprons dept.

How to make your own yeast for baking:

As more people bake their blues away while stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, yeast is reportedly becoming harder to find on grocery store shelves. There's no shame in turning to carbohydrates for comfort in times like these. But what's one to do when a key ingredient for satisfying that craving is becoming as elusive as a roll of toilet paper?

[...] There's a good chance you've already got what you need at home to get started. The Verge asked Stephen Jones, director of Washington State University's Bread Lab, for simple instructions. What you'll actually be doing is capturing wild yeast and bacteria that's already present in the air or in the flour to make a "sourdough starter." This is what bakers have relied on for generations before commercial yeast became available less than 100 years ago.

[...] "Sourdough" is often used to refer to bread that's made with a wild yeast starter rather than with store-bought yeast; following the instructions for this starter doesn't necessarily mean that the bread you make with it will taste sour. But since you're harvesting wild yeast and bacteria (the bacteria is what adds some sourness) that's naturally present in your kitchen, your bread will have a flavor that's unique to wherever you are in the world. That's why, Jones says, "There's a little more beauty in starting your own starter."

What you'll need: Jones says that although some recipes you'll find online call for things like fruit or juice, all you actually need are flour and water. White flour works fine, but whole wheat is best because it has more micronutrients like zinc and iron for the yeast and bacteria. You'll also need time; it'll take several days before your starter is ready, so it's best to plan ahead.

Step 1: Mix together equal parts flour and water in a small bowl. You can start with about a quarter cup of each. Stir well. Water activates the enzyme amylase, which breaks down starch into simple sugars that the yeast and bacteria can eat.

Step 2: Cover the bowl loosely with a lid or towel and leave the mixture on your counter at room temperature. Keeping it in a place that's a bit warm, but not too hot, will speed up the process of the yeast and bacteria colonizing your batter.

Step 3: Twice a day, in the morning and evening, add one to two tablespoons each of flour and water. By doing this, you're actually feeding the yeast. In about three to five days, your starter will begin to bubble. This is a good thing: the way yeast makes bread rise is by producing gas, like what you see in the bubbles. After day five, your starter should have at least doubled in volume and will be ready to use. As a rule of thumb, a bit of the starter should float in a glass of water when it's ready.

[I've been making bread for over a decade now, and sourdough is one of my favourites. If you have some time to spare give it a go. You will love the results. --Janrinok]


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Friday April 03 2020, @06:00PM (6 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday April 03 2020, @06:00PM (#978816) Journal

    Had a pretty good starter I made with just the whole wheat flour and water but it got lost in the move to CO.

    Maybe I'll start a new one...

    Although, we haven't been able to buy any flour for a couple weeks now due to covid shortages.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Friday April 03 2020, @06:03PM (3 children)

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday April 03 2020, @06:03PM (#978818) Journal

    Sorry to hear that - flour is one of the things that is almost unlimited here in France. My bread making (all by hand) continues!

    • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday April 03 2020, @06:40PM

      by PiMuNu (3823) on Friday April 03 2020, @06:40PM (#978825)

      Weirdly, just across the channel in UK, flour runs out in the supermarket around lunchtime...

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 03 2020, @07:21PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 03 2020, @07:21PM (#978839)

      You seem to be a lucky boy. I'm struggling to get a single kg of flour. I've stumbled upon the 4th (large) supermarket that's out of stock.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Friday April 03 2020, @09:37PM

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday April 03 2020, @09:37PM (#978879)

        We seem to be short here in the Antipodes too.

        Fortunately one of the junior zombies works in a supermarket, and they allow staff to shop before they open. He got me two bags of flour from their latest shipment a couple of days ago, and I've started a new sourdough starter.

  • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Saturday April 04 2020, @01:06AM (1 child)

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 04 2020, @01:06AM (#978924) Journal

    I was at a GFS, a restaurant supply, this week. They had ~30lb bags of cake, bread, and all purpose flour on the shelf. They also had 3lb bricks of yeast. TP too.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 04 2020, @08:05PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 04 2020, @08:05PM (#979122)

      Geez what are you going to make with that?