Without meaning to be critical, I have to comment on Sue Ellen Ash's recipe
that she got from Betty Crocker...
> From: "S&R Ash" <db1753@dragonbbs.com>
> Subject: Grandma's first bread & a Sourdough Recipe
> Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 11:26:10 -0500
< GREAT story about Sue's grandmother snipped>
> Here is the Sourdough Recipe from
> Betty Crocker 4 in 1 Cookbook Collection
> Betty Crocker's Cooking American Style
> Chapter Baking Day page 16-17
> Copyright 1975
>
> Sourdough Starter
> 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
> 1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 F)
> 1/4 cup milk
> 1 cup all purpose flour
While I am sure that this recipe makes a great loaf of bread, there are
some problems with it. Either it isn't sourdough, or you could have gotten
there more quickly without the active dry yeast.
As a sourdough culture matures, it becomes acidic. That's where the sour
taste comes from. Commercial baker's yeast can not tolerate the acidity
and dies.
You see, a sourdough culture is a symbiosis between lactobacillus and
yeast. The lactobacillus help keep the culture pure. So.... when you
start a culture with baker's yeast, either it is just a poolish or biga
(and there's nothing wrong with that, as those are very good baking
techniques), or the culture has to kill off the baker's yeast in order to
thrive.
Similarly, you don't need to add grapes, cabbage, yogurt, milk, or anything
other than flour and water to the starter to get it to start. Rye flour is
easier to start than white flour, but you can almost always get a good
starter with white flour - especially if it's organic, stone ground, and
unbleached. Milk tends to make a starter less stable, because milk can go
bad. As a good practice, add the milk to the bread, not the starter.
Again, it's not that I have anything against the recipe. It's just that the
folks at Betty Crocker don't seem to understand sourdough. I'd rather they
called it "Awesome 5-day bread" than sourdough.
Mike
--
Mike Avery
MAvery@mail.otherwhen.com
ICQ: 16241692 AOL IM: MAvery81230