Hi Dabrownman! I wanted to pick your brain...
I've been having a ton of fun with my bakes this summer. I've been using your "rule of 7's" method of building my levain and it's been working flawlessly -- much smaller quantity of stored culture in the fridge; great flavor to my SD breads; and my culture's never been healthier. My wife's folks were visiting us last week and her dad is not as into SD, so I tried making a loaf with a short bulk ferment (only about 2 hours) but it still had that SD tang to it.
That got me to thinking that it's about time I try my hand at Yeast Water so I can still use natural yeast, but without the LAB tanginess. I've been following your Yeast Water Primer and I'm at the end of day #3:
- Keep the jar warm around 78 -80 F. I used a heating pad with kitchen towels folded on top till I got the right temperature and then covered the whole shebang with another towel to keep the heat in.
- For the first 2 days, every couple of hours, open the jar fan some new air in it, close the lid shake the jar vigorously, loosen the lid a tad to let CO2 out and let it sit on the heating pad that way till you do it all again.
- On the 3rd day add 1 tsp of honey. Keep up the fanning, shaking, loosening the lid till day 4. By that time, after you shake, the mix should bubble, easily be visible and remain for awhile. The jar lid should hiss as compresses CO2 escapes when you open the lid after shaking it.
- After a week or so you should have some nice YW to bake with. To know if it is ready just make a levain with 50 g or the yeast water and 50 g of flour and see if can double in volume in 6-12 hours.
My heating pad, no matter how many towels I add under it, keeps equalizing to 90F. That doesn't appear to be detrimental so far, as I have achieved all the milestones mentioned in the Primer (i.e., bubbles and CO2 hiss). So I think I'm still on track to a good YW culture. My only question is this: Do I still need to keep it heated for the whole week, or just until the bubbles have started forming consistently?
--Mike
in cooler temperatures. Just takes longer. And like a sourdough starter, where the initial bubbling up needs warmth and takes longer but once it's viable and strong it doesn't suffer as much in cooler temperatures, you'll find that YW will react in much the same way. Once viable its more hardy. Warmth is still the key when it comes to making a levain with it or when making the actual dough but you'll find a some more flexibility than when creating it for the first time.
Dabrownman has not been seen around these parts for quite a while. A few months in fact. We're all concerned and hope he returns soon. Until then I hope my answer will suffice.
Just like you got to know your sourdough starter, how it reacts and how fast it takes under different circumstances, so too your YW.
I have been waiting to see if he would answer. He seems to have dropped out. Anybody hear from him lately?
I don't believe Dabrownman has been seen here since late June. I'm certainly hoping he's just on an extended holiday rather than having any kind of health or personal issues.
Perhaps they could get in touch with him to confirm that all is well. I haven't been able to relocate the post that mentioned the visit and don't recall which TFLer paid him a visit.
Paul
Efforts have been made but so far no one has had any luck.