Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

There's almost never a reason to come up with a new starter.  It's 
something that only an experienced sourdough baker should attempt, 
otherwise you might not know what to expect.  Our natural food store has 
packets of San Francisco sourdough starter, and you can often get a 
starter from a friend.

Breads from the store don't have any bacteria in them.  The yeast they 
use is absolutely pure.  Even what's called "sourdough" often just has 
some vinegar added to it.

I hope what I'm about to write doesn't put you off cheese forever, Bob, 
or there'll be nothing to go with the crackers.  :)

When we make cheese we always add a big warm bowl of writhing bacteria 
to the milk, of just the right kind, so that it will develop the 
sharpness that will preserve it.  Without them, a big block of junket 
would just rot.

When we make sauerkraut we hope that by salting and excluding air that 
we can get these same bacteria to multiply from the few that are already 
on the cabbage leaves.  If not, we would have cause to worry which sort 
of random bacteria would eventually have their way with our cabbage, 
spoiling it.  Fortunately, these "lactic acid bacteria" are so 
aggressive that they always win.

Likewise, if you just made up a yeast sponge and left it sit around the 
fridge, multiplying it when necessary, like that restaurant in San 
Clemente, it would also eventually grow something unwholesome.  
Thankfully there's sourdough, a deliberate mix of yeast and bacteria 
that stays fresh precisely because it is already colonized to the max 
with yeast and these same friendly bacteria.

That's why I'm a little bewildered, since it's the bacteria that make it 
all possible.

Bill
S. Oregon coast

bob ford wrote:

> That was not the post to which I was referring.  You
> and another member were discussing how to make bread
> from 'scratch';  when you started discussing bacterial
> counts, i decided to kindly stay away from the bakery
> part of the local deli.  Incidentally, I have eighteen
> fire extinguishers......hoping you understand my sense
> of humor....always with smiles....bobford
>
>
>
> --- Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com> wrote:
>
>  
>
> > Wow!  Let me see, I once posted about a restaurant
> > in San Clemente that 
> > had gotten too cocky about multiplying its dough, so
> > that its bread and 
> > rolls had an off-taste.  You should think of these
> > warnings the same as 
> > warnings about handling fire.  Under no
> > circumstances should you 
> > eliminate fire from your life, just because someone
> > had once had a 
> > problem with it.  Instead let that wisdom lead to
> > new understanding.
> >
> > Sorry for the misunderstanding!
> >
> > Bill
> > S. Oregon coast
> >
> > bob ford wrote:
> >
> >    
> >
> > > You sent the message several years ago.   I have
> > >      
> > not
> >    
> >
> > > eaten a piece of bread since.....now, I do eat
> > > un-leavened crackers still