October 9, 2018 - 3:25am
Yeast water season?
Hi all,
Inspired by the looks of Leslie's Swiss cottage loaf, I thought I'd try my hand again at making an active yeast water. Weather forecasts here say that the next few days will be in the 25°C range, rather unusual for this time of year.
So: how warm does it need to be before a yeast water "takes"? And if it's not warm enough, will it still become a yeast water, but just take longer to do so?
Thanks for your lights. I've had two unhappy experiences with YW that made a wonderful levain in no time at all, but they made very solid bricks. Abe and I still don't understand that.
Happy sunny day.
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... was Codruta's contributions to TFL, so do a search. En passant, I wonder what became of her? My crib notes read (which I may have copied from her postings - in Hungarian, though I probably compiled this from various sources):
Take a clean jar, cut two sliced apples, do not throw the bark or the stalk, put them in the jar, fill the jar with water, place the lid on the jar, and put it somewhere in the light and the sun (~28dC) ... and wait and wait ... about 3-5 or 7 days. Occasionally shake vigorously to oxygenate the water. After a few days the water ferments, makes bubbles and smells of apples. The taste is mild, slightly acidified and sweet. “Sludge” in the bottom is the “mother”. To check if yeast is active inside, take 15g of water and mix with 15g flour. If ready, it will double in volume in less than 12 hours.
Maintenance: top-up water as and when used; replace with fresh apples when present ones have sunk to bottom; store in the fridge.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25012/apple-yeast-water-bread
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24821/hybrid-bread-using-ayw-starter-ayw-and-sourdough-starter
78 to 80 F is the best temp for starting YW nd temperature is more critical for it.YW Primer