Rolling in Dough - Day 3

So far, all three of my "test" sourdough starters are bubbling along merrily. Even the potato water wild yeast version is humming right along. 

In the photo below, despite how it looks, there is no mold growing on the tops of the starters. Since they were loosely covered with tea towels, a dried crust formed on the tops. The crust on the rye starter was thick, so I scraped it off and threw it away.

Day 3 is feeding day. I added 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to each of the starters, then gave them a good stirring. An hour later, all three were bubbling up vigorously.

Rye starter 

Unbleached flour

Potato water wild yeast

The starters will rest and grow on the kitchen counter for another three days before it's time to feed them again. 

When they are a week old, it'll be time to try using them. With three big bowls of starter, I'll be eating sourdough everything...biscuits, bread, pancakes, donuts.

Who wants to come help with taste-testing?

New Uses for Old Things

I have a new favorite store. It's called Repurposed Materials and is located in Denver. They deal in products that are cast-offs or waste from industry.  For example, old mining tires which buyers have repurposed as stock tanks...

or old ski lift cable this customer repurposed as handrails. A very elegant repurposing, I must say!

Their warehouse is an awesome place to find stuff you never knew you needed for projects you didn't know were on your list of things to do!  

They have old logging chains, fire hose, roofing membrane, huge lengths of conveyor belting, reclaimed snow fence wood, rubber snow plow edging, street sweeper brushes, pool covers, 275-gal beverage totes....it was something to see!  

It was a good thing I was in a hurry because I could have wandered around in there for quite a while...with my project gears whirring madly. I really would like to use the reclaimed snow fence wood to make a board fence for the property. The boards are pressure treated, in good condition and are 2"x 6" x 8'. They are sold in bunks of 49 boards. Prices average $300 for a bunk. Not a bad price at all!

I went there for a specific item...old vinyl billboards to use as tarps for my big bales of hay.  The billboards are "made of UV-protected and waterproof vinyl layers that sandwich between them a layer of rip-stop nylon scrim to keep them from tearing". 

Regular tarps won't last long in this climate. These vinyl billboards are heavy-duty and should provide years of service protecting my hay from the elements. 

The last snow storm caught me before I was ready with my billboard, so I covered the hay the best I could with what I had.

Repurposed Materials had 14' x 24' billboards, which are just about the perfect size. They are heavy, weighing perhaps 40 pounds each, and are awkward to handle, especially if you try to do this alone.

My billboard's first job was advertising Kawasaki Mules. The people at Repurposed Materials ask that you keep the printed side down when using the billboards. 

At 14 feet across, it was just enough to fully cover both sides of the hay. The far end is completely covered, too. Just the "working" end is open. I'll fold back the billboard as I use the hay. 

 I need to drag a few more old boards and/or posts up from the barn to use to hold down the sides and then I'm good to go! 

My next order of four of these 1,000 pound bales of hay should be arriving in a couple of weeks. I have another billboard at the ready for them. I wonder what it advertised?

Inside the Hoop House

Today I opened the hoop house for the first time since October 24th when I battened down the hatches for the snow storm. The temperatures have been warming up steadily, with today's high in the low 60's.

Happily, everything inside the hoop house is fine. Even better, the last batch of seeds I planted have begun to sprout!

Here's the spinach....

...and the new spinach sprouts.

Here is the Swiss Chard...

...and the new sprouts.

The collards and new sprouts.

The lettuce with new sprouts just barely visible on the left.

I have an idea for how to add vertical supports to the hoops for added stability and ability to bear weight.  The next storm could bring snow we measure in feet, so I have to be ready.

I'm still playing around with it, but will post photos soon.

Rolling in Dough

For the vast majority of the history of baking risen bread, sourdough was the leavening agent. Only recently did we begin using commercial yeast as a time saver. "Modern" home bakers don't seem to have the interest or time commitment to nurturing a sourdough starter.

There's something about living on a historic homestead that makes me want to revert to the "old" ways of doing things. I'm also very curious about how well sourdough will work at high altitude (about 6,800 ft).

I was very tempted to put this post in the "livestock" category, since yeast is a live organism.  Sourdough also contains lactobacilli. The lactobacilli produce lactic acid, which gives it the classic sour flavor.

The best way to begin with sourdough is to get a good, proven starter. Some are available commercially from places like King Arthur Flour. You can beg a starter from a friend. One starter has been kept going since 1847 by Carl Griffith and his friends. You can get some of his historic starter for the cost of a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

While I'm waiting for my Carl Griffith starter to arrive, I am experimenting with three I've begun myself. Two use commercial yeast; one with rye flour and one with unbleached all purpose flour. The third uses potato water and wild yeast. Yup...wrangling wild yeast right in my kitchen. YeeHaw!

Here are the two commercial yeast versions.  Both consist of 2 cups of the flour, 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast and 2 cups of water. Why did I choose these two flours and this particular combination? If you do an internet search on sourdough starter, you will find many different recipes. I just picked a couple to try out. No method or special reasons.

It took less than an hour for it to completely get away from me. The unbleached flour version (on the left) was actually moving like it was breathing as it bubbled. Good reminder that we are dealing with living organisms here!

I've read that you should avoid using anything metal (bowls or spoons, for example) when working with starter. Something in the metal interferes with the yeast and bacteria. Here are the two starters which are now in my largest glass containers. Let's see if they crawl out of these!

For the wild yeast starter, it begins with boiled potatoes. Boil them in their skins, until they are soft and falling apart.

Remove the skins, then mash the potatoes up. Let them cool for about an hour then add enough water to make 2 cups. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 cups of flour. Put this into a big glass or ceramic bowl/crock and beat it by hand until it looks like pancake batter.

How does yeast and lactobacillis grow in this starter? It's possible that wild yeast spores that are in the air will land in my bowl of starter (rather than say, on my coffee table). It's much more likely that there are already yeast and lactobacilli in the flour and potatoes. Given the right environment and food, they'll grow. Knowing me, it's equally likely that nothing will happen and this will be a non-starter. Time will tell.

All three of my test starters will live and grow on the counter for the next three days. Stay tuned for updates on how they're doing.