The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Seasoned kitchen (air yeast)

CurlyCheff's picture
CurlyCheff

Seasoned kitchen (air yeast)

I read somewhere that the more you bake, the more "seasoned" your kitchen becomes, producing a better and faster rise and predictable results.  This seemed to be the case when I moved into a new kitchen... All of my old ways and recipes didn't  seem to work, until months later... But now I can pull off practically any trick with  great response because I bake daily, operating a bread shop from my home.  So is  this a true idea because of the amount of natural yeast in the air, or a myth? I'd love a link to learn more about it!  Thanks! 

suave's picture
suave

Your skills improved.  No other reason.

clazar123's picture
clazar123

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-humans-carry-more-bacterial-cells-than-human-ones/

I believe in your experience. I work with several kinds of frmented foods-vegetables (kimchi,sauerkraut,etc), pickles (crock/lacto fermented), fruit (yeast water), kefir (fermented dairy), yogurt and bread (SD). After a while, I noticed food in my refrig generally didn't "spoil" anymore. It tended to ferment. Fruit in the fruit bowl on the counter tended to ferment,also.I would find any little wound on the surface of the fruit would bubble and it would taste like wine. A bowl of applesauce left out overnight became fizzy.  Mold was not seen too often except on bread in the plastic bag. My SD bread could go weeks before that happened.

I believe there is just such a high population of yeasts and lactos present that they just took over any available food source.

Interestingly enough, when I moved into a different house ( 2 different houses now), I noticed a reverse. Mold and spoilage were more prevalent until I had been there a while. It took a while since I was busy moving and not fermenting as much. Now, lactos and yeasts are winning again.

imightbemary's picture
imightbemary (not verified)

My experience resonates with what clazar123 is saying. I find my doughs rising faster now than when I first started baking two years ago, and my lactofermentations taste better and develop faster than they ever used to as well. It hadn't occurred to me that this might be happening in my fridge too, but now that I think about it, I can keep stuff for significantly longer than other people without spoilage; even doughs I retard in the fridge seem to get better oven spring than before.