no bread yet… (how about crackers?)
I began writing this post yesterday morning…
capturing wild yeast: part 5
(click on images for larger views and more photos)
Rats. Was that really me who said that capturing wild yeast was easy? (capturing wild yeast: part 2) Clearly I was deluded. I’m not sure but I think that I may be killing my starter.
I’m SO disappointed! But McKenna Grant did say that it may take longer in cooler weather so I’m going to give this one more shot. I have pushed everything back to the feeding stages. I used the left over sludge from the false buildup to make more crackers.
At least these crackers were much more successful than the previous batch… I reduced the oven temperature from 450F to 350F and this time, the 20 minutes that McKenna Grant had recommended was about right. Here’s what I did:
Crackers
based on a recipe in Piano Piano Pieno by Susan McKenna Grant
measurements are approximate
- ½ c leftover sludge from capturing wild yeast*
- ½ c whole wheat flour
- ½ c unbleached all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp coarsely ground pepper
- ¼ tsp red chili pepper flakes
- ¼ c sesame seeds
- ¼ c poppy seeds
- ½ c flax seeds
- water
- ¼ c extra virgin olive oil
- more olive oil for brushing and coarse seasalt
procedure
- Mix all the ingredients (except the seasalt and olive oil for brushing) into a stiff ball. Let your hands be your friends. Add water if the dough seems too powdery. Cover and place in fridge for about an hour.
- Place the ball between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough as thinly as possible.
- Peel off the top layer of paper and transfer the dough sheet and bottom piece of parchment to a cookie sheet.
- Turn oven to 350F.
- Pierce the dough all over with a fork. Use a ravioli cutter to mark out squares or rectangles. Brush with extra virgin olive oil. Let rest for a few minutes. Brush again. Sprinkle with coarse seasalt.
- Bake on the top shelf of the oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Watch for burning in the last few minutes of baking!
- Allow to cool. Break apart and store in a cookie tin. Eat the crackers sooner rather than later as flaxseeds will spoil.
* This sludge is largely made up of water and unbleached all-purpose flour. There is also a tiny bit of rye flour and the slightest trace of honey. I’m sure that more flour and water could be substituted and virtually the same crackers would result. I bet that oatmeal or cornmeal would also be good additions.
Monday morning: I give up. I feel certain that the starter is not supposed to look like whipping cream. And there is no yeasty smell either. It smells like nothing at all. I’m going to try this again when it’s hot. I’ve had it with trying to keep up to the Jones’s.
I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll throw the whole thing out in a rage or if I’ll try making flatbread or biscuits out of it.
Awwwwww. I thought the Day 4 pictures looked the most promising, or rather, the most like I expect yeast to look. Better luck next time!
I love this blog because you report the unvarnished truth about what happens, even if it’s not a success. I hope the little yeast darlings don’t die next time!
I thought the same thing, bing. I was so sad when the consistency suddenly changed overnight. I don’t know exactly what I did wrong but clearly I must have.
I’m not positive that the yeast actually die, CAM. I just got too impatient waiting. Not to mention that having the oven basically out of bounds for an indefinite period of time was getting on our nerves.
The oven is so you can have a small amount of heat, right? Instead of the oven, could you just put it into a closed box or maybe small closet along with a lamp turned on?
I guess I could construct a proofing box, bing. (Now why didn’t I think of that?!) The only problem I can foresee is where to store such a thing. The only really convenient place I can think of is… um… the oven.
Hello, I just ran across your site and am sorry you are having trouble getting your starter going. Like many things in nature, wild yeast does not reproduce as fast in cold, dry weather. I’ve also found starters are much easier to get going in the country than in the city. It seems from your blog you are leaving the starter in the oven with the light on(?) and I wonder if this might be part of your problem. You need both warmth and humidity in your kitchen and the warm oven could be drying things out too much. What I do, in the winter is crank the heat up in my kitchen (77-78 degrees) and leave a large stock pot of water simmering on the stove to imitate a humid summer day.
Also re: the crackers. You might try substituting water for the olive oil in the dough. The result is a crispier, lighter less “health foodie” cracker.
In any case, I hope you don’t give up on your starter. It will come to life for you, and give you a lifetime of great bread under the right conditions. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and good luck. Great website!
Susan
I will try to get the starter going again, Susan, but I have decided to wait until the summer when warmth and humidity will abound. Alas it’s not really possible to crank the heat up in the kitchen alone (open concept main floor). We keep the house fairly cool during the winter. During the night the temperature drops down to around 14C and during the day it never really goes higher than 20C – even if there is stock simmering on the stove and the oven is cranked up for baking bread.
As for the crackers, we were thinking that I hadn’t put enough olive oil in them. The first ones (the ones that burned…) had the amount of olive oil you had suggested. But the second time, we decided to try them with less olive oil. I’m thinking that next time I’ll add less whole wheat flour….
I’m enjoying this series of posts. I’ve tried making starters before in the winter, but they just exploded in my oven. But I’m hoping to try it again when it finally gets hot and humid here in NYC.
I’m really glad to hear that, Lisa. (not that your starter exploded in the oven… but that you’re enjoying the posts)
I gather that I might have been able to rescue the starter I was trying. My friend, “Mrs. Jones”, who got me started on this whole thing, says that her starter did that same liquifying thing but she made bread anyway. She said it was brilliant. Which is only encouraging…
I’m thinking of not waiting til summer after all.
Hello, I just noticed your comments on making starter. I made mine over a year ago and have been making wonderful whole grain bread ever since. I even sent some starter to my son in Spokane Washington and it took 5 days to get there and he was able to revive it so let me know if you are still having starter problems. It should be happy and bubbly and smell good.
That’s very kind of you to offer, Gailann. I think our starter is doing okay. It’s the temperature that I have to pay attention to when I’m building it up! -Elizabeth