TOTM - April 2020 Isolation, living off your preps or NOT

Exactly... @HK_

If you don't feed the yeasty beasties regularly, they die off and leave you with a slurry of stink...

Divide and feed.. every week seems to work for me.

 

Heavily chlorinated water will kill off the wild things in the poolish (nearly a slurry) or biga (a more dry and my preferred). Boil your tap water and let it sit uncovered for a couple of days. If you are on a well, no problem...

 

Sounds like Oklahoma and Aridzona… On the coast here in Orygon, the well water runs heavy with iron. The locals, before water treatment systems, used to catch rain water to wash their hair and clothes.

 

Most water treatment systems use an ion replacement, hard for soft. Still need to know what's in it, in case yeast doesn't love what you feed it.

 

OK, I'm no expert baker, but I am a home brewer. Although the difference between brewing (fermenting an alcoholic beverage) and collecting a wild yeast culture and propagating it for baking are vastly different, I know that the elimination of chlorine or chloramine in the water is essential for yeast reproduction. So is the oxygenation of the water. If you look at the different mineral contents of brewing water you will find that some beers derive their character from those minerals or the lack there of. Many brewers use reverse osmosis to remove most mineral content, then add back the percentages of various minerals to simulate the water for a classical style of beer being brewed. You can remove chlorine (usually injected into the water stream as a gas or liquid by your municipality) by boiling or allowing it to sit covered overnight. Boiling also removes the oxygenation so you will have to agitate the water to re introduce dissolved oxygen in the water. Chloramine can be remove using a counter top activated charcoal water filter like Britta, Zero Water or by use of an reverse osmosis system.

All that said, a PH of 7, which is considered neutral, and of local origin that has been de-chlorinated and aerated (through agitation) would be best for yeast growth. But yeast cannot live on water alone. It requires food to perpetuate growth just like any other organism. For yeast, that is glucose. So, a mixture of water (as described above) and a substance containing glucose or fructose or sucrose will provide a medium for the collection and propagation of yeast and other airborne organisms. When you go after wild yeasts, you will get anything that is floating around in the air that likes your offering, including flies and gnats, and not so welcome bacteria.

The yeast you want collects on the husks of the whole grain in nature. Sprouted (malted) ground red wheat, buckwheat, and white wheat will provide the yeasts you want for baking. When mixed with water these flours release gluconase enzymes from within the grain that begin to break down the complex starch chains into sugars that yeast feed on. Keep your slurry fed until ready for use, as this will take many days to propagate a large enough colony of yeast for baking. Here is a guide..

1. Day 1) Mix together 1/4 c. water & 1/4 c. any of the flour described above. Pour into a large clean mason jar, ceramic bowl or crock and cover with plastic wrap & secure with a rubber band. With a sharp pencil, punch a single small hole in the center of the plastic wrap. Start with water at 95 to 100 degrees F. Place in a cool, dark place where it will be undisturbed.
2. Day 2) Add 1/4 c. water at room temperature & 1/4 c. of the selected flour to the mixture. Place back where you had it.
3. Day 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Repeat Day 2 instructions.
4. Day 10 Halve the mixture and Add 1/4 c. room temperature water & 1/4 c. of the flour to the mixture, pour into an appropriate clean container, & place INSIDE FRIDGE.
5. Day 11,12, 13, 14, 15, 16) Halve the mixture and Add 1/4 c. room temperature water & 1/4 c. of the flour, pour into an appropriate clean container, & place back INSIDE FRIDGE.
6. Day 17) It's ready to use in recipes!

I really went off on a tangent here. On a public water system you can get a water analysis from the provider. If you are on a well you can take or send a sample out to be analyzed.

 

They also have yeast.

 

Long term stores are still untouched. Resupply has been no problem other than paper (and stuff like masks, sanitizers and so on) products, which (fortunately) is holding up from several months ago. Prices are holding pretty steady, but things are normally higher here than in the more populated areas. Except motor fuel. Gotta love that trend.