make sourdough bread

and now she is no more :-(

It’s my own silly fault really for not researching before reacting (yes, I know, I should know better).

Having been really good and resisted the temptation to peep at and play with her, on day 9 I had a look to see if anything was happening. Off came the lid of Helga’s bucket, and out the back door ran me! It stank, I mean, really, really horribly, of vomit.

When I finally stopped gagging and heaving I bravely went back in the kitchen to inspect her. At one edge was a layer of greyish mould; poor Helga had gone bad….so I rinsed her away in the sink.

That was the point I went to Google to find out why this might have happened. Apparently Helga wasn’t actually dead (until I swilled her down the drain) and I could have taken a portion of her non-mouldy self and regenerated her.

Although I initially felt very sad that I’d unnecessarily killed Helga, on reflection I would never have been able to eat bread produced from a puke smelling, mould producing starter. Sorry Helga.

I am going to try again, but this time I’m going to use pineapple juice instead of grapes; all those lovely enzymes in the pineapple should keep the balance acidic enough to prevent mould growth.

Fingers crossed.
x

The process has commenced.

The first step is make the ‘starter’; the bit that takes the place of commercial bakers yeast and hopefully makes the bread rise :-)

The idea is that the naturally occurring yeasts present in the flour and on the skin of the grapes will react with the sugars present and multiply like crazy. Right now I’m worried I might end up cultivating mould instead, but I’ll give it a bash.

So you need a large-ish container, preferably with a lid. I’m using a nappy bucket (sterilised of course) which seems pretty perfect as it has a lid and ventilation slits.

Mix 500g strong (bread making quality) organic flour and 1 litre water together in the bucket.

Take a handful (about 10 or 15) washed red organic grapes (they really need to be organic otherwise pesticides will have killed many of the microorganisms that are needed); tie into a sort of pouch in a small piece of muslin or other suitable lightweight cloth; crush lightly and squeeze some of the juice into the flour & water mix and stir in.

Submerge the entire pouch of grapes in the mix, pop on the lid, and leave at room temperature (kitchen is perfect) for around 10 days.

I’m not supposed to peek or anything. Damn, that bit’s going to be hard.

After 10 days or so it should be activated, and then the feeding process begins.

Now as I’m going to have a living ‘thing’ on my fridge, I think it’s only polite to give it a name; so I hereby name her Helga.

I would have posted a picture but can’t find my camera cable; hopefully by the time anything happens, I’ll have found it. The picture I have posted is what I’m aiming for as an end result – aim high, that’s what I say ;P
x

that red organic grapes would be so difficult to find?! However, I’ve tracked some down and they’re being delivered in my veg box next week. Maybe then, finally, I can move on from step one of this goal. At least the bucket’s sterilised ;-)

Sterilise bucket with lid and track down organic red grapes – to be done tomorrow!

My beautiful baby brother, who recently moved to New Zealand, suggested we do this as a joint project then compare results on-line. It’s the next best thing to the cook-a-thons we used to enjoy together. So, first steps – clean out bucket with lid and find red organic grapes!

Poorly photographed (laptop cam) bread-like things.

The one loaf/ball got all awonk and turned into a kind of topiary dough swan.

What they lack in pretty, they more than make up for in yummy though.

balls and rising for the last time. Baking begins in 15 minutes.

and rising, covered. Hopefully I’ll be ready to bake in a few hours. The dough smells amazing.

I started mixing the bread tonight at 8 o’clock. Another 10 minutes and I’ll knead it and wait for it to double.

So my plan is to make the sourdough starter work, so we can bake bread there. I’m less likely to make bread at home b/c of time and space. First I have to get through crumpet and english muffin making though.