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Dawnie
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| Posted: June 08 2006 at 11:43pm | IP Logged
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Not sure where to post this...it's a rabbit trail we've taken from the Little House books, but it's a cooking question...hmmmm
Okay, we're trying to make a sourdough starter per the instructions in The Little House Cookbook. That means no "cheating" with yeast. Just mix flour and water together in a glass jar and leave in a warm place until it ferments. The fermentation is supposed to be caused by wild yeast and bacteria in the air. So, we've mixed the flour and the water, put the container in the garage, where it's nice and warm--do I put a lid on it or not? If I put a lid on it, how do the wild yeast and bacteria get into my mixture? If I don't put a lid on it, how do I keep dirt and bugs and gas fumes out of my starter and how do I keep it from drying out? Surely some of you Little House fans have tried this?! Help me out!
Dawn
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marihalojen
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| Posted: June 09 2006 at 7:30am | IP Logged
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I think Ma and Laura covered the starter with a cloth? Thinking out loud here, would that allow the yeast and bacteria in yet keep the dirt and bugs out?
Oh - I would move it away from the car if it is not in a sealed container. Just as we don't collect wild edibles from the sides of roads, I don't think I'd want to concentrate the fumes in a sourdough starter!
Let us know how it turns out - Marianna and I did the Prairie Primer this year, but with no oven we didn't do much baking...
Marianna just read over my shoulder - she recommends cheesecloth, thin yet airy and you can fold it to required thickness!
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Dawnie
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| Posted: June 09 2006 at 10:53am | IP Logged
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Jennifer and all,
I went out to check the starter this morning and it was ALIVE!! Nice and bubbly and sour-smelling.  I mixed the starter in a Pampered Chef 1-quart batter bowl and covered it w/ the plastic lid. DH hypothesizes that the wild yeast is in the air and gets into the starter while it's being mixed up, so it doesn't need to be left totally uncovered. Anyway, the point is, the starter will ferment (at my house, anyway!) even when covered w/ a plastic lid.
By the way, if any of you live near Wichita, Kansas, I have some starter to give away. I have to double the starter and let it ripen before I can use it. The recipe says to give half to a friend. Maybe I should put it up for trade on the Trading Post. 
I'll let you know how my sour-dough biscuits turn out in a few days! This is really fun! Science, history, and literature all at the same time!
Oh, and Jennifer, the Little House Cookbook says that you can make sour-dough biscuits in a skillet on the stovetop. No oven neccessary.
Dawn
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Mom to Mary Beth (99), Anna (02), Lucia (04), Clara (06), and Adelaide Victoria (2/28/09)
Visit my blog!Water Into Wine:Vino Per Tutto!
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marihalojen
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| Posted: June 09 2006 at 3:03pm | IP Logged
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One of our favorite 'bread' recipes is biscuits in a skillet! We like to kick it up by melting butter and sprinkling brown sugar and cinnamon in bottom of the skillet, then turn biscuits half way through. Very cinnamon roll like.
Tortillas on the grill of course.
I tried Thai water rolls (or some similar name) that are steamed in a wok on our grill but they were very mushy, not pillowy at all. My dh said never again! We'll go with the Low-Carb diet first! Poor guy...
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Sourdough starter
