Spearmint
Assistant Cook
. I come from a family of food people: my grandfather, a Master French Chef, food inspector and dietician, his father and mother were a charcutereur and a master baker respectively. Many recipes that I use were handed down from the turn of the century, but not for bread. My grandfather and grandmother gave many recipes to my sister and I as children, but said ‘When it comes to bread, you’re on your own.’ Basically commercial yeasts are all different and local wild strains mutate.
Let’s face it, if you live in Arizona, your chances of culturing a local yeast will be slim to none. Fortunately, I live In the NYC area where the local strains are highly active and fabulously abundant
Just a few tips I’d like to give out if I may:
First: beware of online recipes that you randomly Google up. Many are corrupt from the start. Bakers are, understandably, very protective of their secrets, I am too. If I took months and hundreds of dollars in ingredients to come up with a perfect bread or pastry, I’m only going to tell my kin who bake. But why, I ask, would you bother to post anything bogus online unless you wish to discourage people. You can detect these fake recipes if you are an experienced home baker and know which proportions look hopelessly wrong. I also believe that some reputable sites get hacked by jerks. Any commercial baker worth his salt would not be worried about the home baker. If his goods pass muster, even the home baker will buy them periodically and recommend them to their friends who don’t bake, as quality items. A baker who fears sites like this one will hurt his business are charlatans. Remember this: when a bakery changes hands and keeps the same DBA and all the goods are the same as they were before, they are not bakers, they are copycats.
Second: there are excellent websites out there for those who wish to culture their own wild starter. Don’t be afraid to try a few at once, (in separate parts of the kitchen!) but (see rule three) keep meticulous records of exactly what you have done, even the little errors, ESPECIALLY THE LITTLE ERRORS. Oftentimes the best technique or proportion is discovered through mere serendipity. When it does, it means the baking gods are smiling.
Third: Keep meticulous records. Remember, while you are trying to create your own recipe, you are a microbiologist and biochemist. When you finally have a recipe that you can repeat four times successfully, then you are a baker again. Thank God for that.
Last: Anyone who tells you that you can’t add a little commercial yeast to boost the final rise or two is lying. The strains will not fight in the bowl or the loaf. Wild cultures contain many strains existing harmoniously in nature and in the dough or starter. You don’t need much, I find a teaspoon of dry active in a three one pounder batch works fine and dandy.
Merry Christmas and
Happy Baking
Spearmint
Let’s face it, if you live in Arizona, your chances of culturing a local yeast will be slim to none. Fortunately, I live In the NYC area where the local strains are highly active and fabulously abundant
Just a few tips I’d like to give out if I may:
First: beware of online recipes that you randomly Google up. Many are corrupt from the start. Bakers are, understandably, very protective of their secrets, I am too. If I took months and hundreds of dollars in ingredients to come up with a perfect bread or pastry, I’m only going to tell my kin who bake. But why, I ask, would you bother to post anything bogus online unless you wish to discourage people. You can detect these fake recipes if you are an experienced home baker and know which proportions look hopelessly wrong. I also believe that some reputable sites get hacked by jerks. Any commercial baker worth his salt would not be worried about the home baker. If his goods pass muster, even the home baker will buy them periodically and recommend them to their friends who don’t bake, as quality items. A baker who fears sites like this one will hurt his business are charlatans. Remember this: when a bakery changes hands and keeps the same DBA and all the goods are the same as they were before, they are not bakers, they are copycats.
Second: there are excellent websites out there for those who wish to culture their own wild starter. Don’t be afraid to try a few at once, (in separate parts of the kitchen!) but (see rule three) keep meticulous records of exactly what you have done, even the little errors, ESPECIALLY THE LITTLE ERRORS. Oftentimes the best technique or proportion is discovered through mere serendipity. When it does, it means the baking gods are smiling.
Third: Keep meticulous records. Remember, while you are trying to create your own recipe, you are a microbiologist and biochemist. When you finally have a recipe that you can repeat four times successfully, then you are a baker again. Thank God for that.
Last: Anyone who tells you that you can’t add a little commercial yeast to boost the final rise or two is lying. The strains will not fight in the bowl or the loaf. Wild cultures contain many strains existing harmoniously in nature and in the dough or starter. You don’t need much, I find a teaspoon of dry active in a three one pounder batch works fine and dandy.
Merry Christmas and
Happy Baking
Spearmint
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