Thursday, August 1, 2013

My First Loaves of Bread Made with Wild San Francisco Yeast

My first loaves of wild sourdough yeast bread turned out to be a success. This yeast was caught in San Francisco and took 5 days to bring to life. Unlike regular yeast you buy in stores, this yeast works much slower and is much healthier. I started the bread this morning about 8:00 and it finished baking about 4:30, actually much faster than I was told. I love it. I also got some from France so I might get that started to see the difference next week. The first day I added a cup of water and a cup of flour to the yeast and let it sit on the counter for a day. Day 2 got another cup of flour and a cup of water. Day 3 I removed a cup of starter (whew, did not smell good and I almost pitched it) then added 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 water. I did the same for days 4 and 5. Yesterday, the yeast started smelling more like sourdough and today it was all bubbly and smelled nice. The bread is very tasty and I'm really glad I gave this adventure a try. For those who don't know about wild yeast (and I didn't until a couple of weeks ago), it is first caught by preparing a water and yeast mix and left sitting out on the counter for a few days in order to catch it from the air. There is no processing or special packaging and has many health benefits, including being able to be eaten by most gluten intolerant people. I read a book last week all about it and found it fascinating. The book is Vintage Remedies Guide to Bread by Jessie Hawkins.

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