North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

Raisins do have yeast on the surface, and are used for a traditional Irish
starter, barm brack.

Sometimes the antipathogenic compounds in a plant will have a positive
effect on microorganisms the plant doesn't see as a threat. That's what's
going on in the case of ginger, but I don't know the specific chemical or
method of action. A very small amount of ginger will help yeast growth, and
is often used in breadmaking. I mix a combination of ingredients to add to
sandwich breads to give them a texture that will hold up well - more like
the commercial sandwich breads in texture, but still very homemade in flavor
and quality of crust and crumb. There are other spices and herbs that
encourage or discourage yeast growth, such as the ginger relative, cardamom.

Jay, we both mentioned raisins - are we getting back on topic?

~ Stephen 

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jay Cutts
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 8:59 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Off Topic - Homemade carbonated drinks

Actually I'm wondering if it might be that raisins or ginger already 
have yeasts on their surface that might speed things up.  After all, the 
yeast is really attracted to sugar, so sugar alone should do the trick 
but if there are yeasts present on the raisins or ginger or other fruit, 
that's what would speed it up.  Could it be something like that?

Regards,

Jay

Jay Cutts
Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews
Lead Author, Barron's Test Prep Publications
800-353-4898 day or eve, 7 days
(In NM, 505-281-0684)



On 9/7/2011 9:20 AM, Maria Schumann wrote:
> I think its like using raisins when you make a wine with no added
> yeast-- the wild yeast is attracted to the raisins or in this case,
> ginger.
>
> On Sep 7, 2011, at 8:37 AM, mIEKAL aND wrote:
>
>> Why the ginger with the yeast starter?
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 7:21 PM, Maria Schumann
>> <mariaschu@vtlink.net>  wrote:
>>> I make mine with wild yeast-- leave a cup with grated ginger and
>>> sugar
>>> and water on the kitchen counter for 3 or 4 days, and then use that
>>> as
>>> a starter culture.
>>> Maria
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