Updates on Pineapple Vinegar and Wild Yeast

Well, the pineapple vinegar got poured into the compost this afternoon.  Why?  Well, with all the layers of cheesecloth to protect it, bugs still got inside it.  EWWW!!  I had little gnats inside the cover, happily getting fat off the brew.

I had a great "mother" on top of it and it was getting near the harvesting period as it had gone from clear, to murky, and then almost clear like the original recipe had stated would happen.  When I opened the top, a few gnats flew out, so that was the immediate end of that experiment.

Next time, I'll skip the cheesecloth and instead use a flour sack towel to cover it, which is a much tighter weave than four layers of its recommended competitor.  I'll wait until the spring to revive this experiment.

As far as the wild yeast goes, I tried making bread with it, but it didn't rise much.  I did add a little bit of commercial yeast to the blend and it barely got to the top of the loaf pan, but it did have great flavor!  I've tried making another wild yeast starter, and it seems to work better on warmer days (75+ degrees F) and cooler days result in a total flop, which isn't surprising since yeast in bread likes a warmer environment in which to grow and rise.

We did have a few warmer days here where I tried to make another batch, but in the end it still didn't work.  I found trying to revive starter that was put in the fridge after successfully being capture didn't work for me (you're supposed to feed it equal amounts of water and flour), but mine never proofed a second time.  What did happen was it grew mold before it got there!

So use the fresh captured stuff fairly quickly, but add in some extra commercial yeast if you want to make bread with it.  I found making sour dough starter with commercial yeast easier and more predictable in cooler fall weather.

Chalk up another set of "FAILS" for me on this, but hey...that's how you learn.  I'm not discouraged, but I'm going to have to wait until next spring when the fruit's fresh and the weather's warm enough to grow yeast to try again. 

Capturing Wild Yeast, Part 2

Yesterday I posted I was in the hunt for wild yeast, and I placed a covered bowl of water and flour outside to see if my mixture could capitalize on the theory wild yeast is everywhere.

I'm glad to say the method actually works!  Two days in nice weather outside, and I've got a wonderfully bubbly mixture.  If you treat your starter dough and feed it from time to time, it can last for years.  Yes, you saw that right - YEARS!  So my next challenge is to keep it alive, and learn how to "sweeten the pot", and from a blog I read, there are youtube videos out there that will show you how.  Here's another good source on feeding your wild yeast worth reading.

So next time someone says, "...ya just pull that out of thin air?!?"  You and give them a smirk and respond, "matter of fact....YES".

Happy Eats!  

Be very, very quiet....I'm hunting for wild yeast!

OK, so you don't need to be quiet, but I figured I'd try something new and different - harvesting wild yeast from the air.  Yep, it's another experiment that easily falls into the "why don't you just go out and buy packaged yeast at the store?!?" category, but I want to know I can do this.  It's just foraging on a different level, but the same principle exists - "If I had to survive out in the middle of nowhere, could I do it?"  

I know what you're thinking - "Sue's gone off the deep end and has been watching way too many episodes of 'Man vs. Wild'", and you'd be wrong since I don't have cable and can't watch much beyond the local channels and PBS.  I'm sort of glad I don't because it forces me to think outside of the boob tube, and let's face it...the boob tube is for zoning out at the end of the day.   
 
From my reading, you can "catch" wild yeast in a number of ways - soaking raisins, potatoes, or just leaving a water/flour combination covered with a kitchen towel out in the open. Sometimes you have luck, and if you don't, you start a new batch of flour and water and try again.  I decided to put my batch outside to take advantage of what might be one of the last warm days as it's supposed to cool off around here over the next week.  I put a rubber band around the lip of the batter bowl to keep the towel from blowing away, but otherwise, they "claim" it's easy to harvest it from the air, and results can be seen in as little as 24 hours, but probably 48-72 is more realistic.  I'll keep you updated if this method works, or should I say, if it worked for me (who's to say you don't have more yeasty air where you live, right?).