Self-Reliant Bread

[signseeker]

Okay, this is my variation on the Amish Friendship Bread theme. I love the Amish bread, but there's just so much of it... you need to give away bags of starter all the time... it was just too much. So I've been playing around with it for the last few months and I think I've got a good thing going here... let me know how it does if you decide to try it. :blush:


Starter:

Put 1/2 Cup each of milk, sugar and flour in a plastic baggy.
Squish it around and leave it on the counter.
About a week later add another 1/2 Cup of each, squish and leave.

Once it starts to bubble or "expand" or look "foamier" you know it's going to work. If it just sits there, flat and dead-like, try adding another dose of the 3 ingredients and give it more time. May take a month to get bubbles... I'm using a quart sized baggy right now.



To make the bread:

Take out 1/2 Cup of the starter and place it in a new baggy on the counter. Don't forget to add 1/2 C. of milk, flour and sugar after a couple days and start the whole process again... adding the 3 ingredients every week or two until you use it again. (I've left mine for a month... it was still fine)

*Use non-metal bowl and spoon*

Put remaining starter in bowl and add:
1 C. oil
2 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
4 eggs
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 large box vanilla pudding

Mix well and pour into greased loaf pans. Sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon/sugar shaker you use for cinnamon toast. Bake an hour at 325* or 30 min. or so if you're using small loaf pans.




You can, of course, vary the recipe... add different flavors of pudding, add nuts or chocolate chips or raisins or whatever you think up! You could probably make it healthier, too... whole wheat, oat bran, honey, whatever... Have fun! :)

[Earthling]

So the milk doesn't go bad sitting on the counter like that?

[Earthling]

Sign:
The recipe you gave me at Cooks had a pkg of yeast in the starter. Should this have yeast?

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,194,157182-224206,00.html

[signseeker]

The milk just starts things bubbling, I guess. Nope, it doesn't "go bad" ... sort of has a hint of sourdough smell when you make it up, but not as strong as real sourdough. I was thinking I might need raw milk, but the store-bought is what I use and it works just fine.

I did not use yeast in the starter or at any time in the process.

[Noahs ARK]

The milk just starts things bubbling, I guess. Nope, it doesn't "go bad" ... sort of has a hint of sourdough smell when you make it up, but not as strong as real sourdough. I was thinking I might need raw milk, but the store-bought is what I use and it works just fine.

I did not use yeast in the starter or at any time in the process.

I'm going to try out your recipe - thanks!

I'm always on the lookout for any kind of bread that doesn't require yeast because there may come a time when we can find yeast and then we'll be up the creek. Love flatbread, but want something like this with a starter.

One last question - whole milk? 2%? Does it matter?

[mgriffith]

Here's an experiment for you.....try to do the same thing but leave the starter outside in Feb. Or, carry the starter in a bag next to your skin for the week.

The real question is: How do you make bread without any yeast or starter? Bread the actually rises, not a tortilla.

Give up? :confused1: Ask Babbi-Dan.

Mark

[signseeker]

I've used 2% and whole... that's usually what's in the house. Skim milk is evil, so I wouldn't recommend that.

The milk and sugar and flour become the starter. Don't ask me how. I just know this bread is awesome and DH is lucky if there's any of the loaves left by the time he gets home from work. It's good - not too dense... it's really just right.

I have heard the pioneers would sleep with their starters sometimes to keep them from freezing...

Are you saying you want me to put a baggy out in the garage or something?

[mgriffith]

I have heard the pioneers would sleep with their starters sometimes to keep them from freezing...

Are you saying you want me to put a baggy out in the garage or something?

Let's say TSHTF, and you're living in a tent hiding in the woods (nothing to do with AVOWites). How will you make bread without warmth to raise dough or ferment starter? Try it and see.

Mark

[waif69]

It looks like I may try this, or a variant. If my SO doesn't toss it, I'll return and report.

[signseeker]

Toss it?? :d0 (65):

Okay, next time I make a batch, I'll put a baggy in the garage and see how it goes. I imagine you'd have to sleep with it in your non-avow tent if it came to that, to keep it from freezing. Maybe just keep it inside your shirt... heh. Another bonus of having smaller amounts of start going instead of the gallon baggy size.

[Earthling]

My sourdough start (from the Yukon - over 100 years old) handles the cold just fine. It is one tough start - went over 5 months without being used while we remodeled our kitchen and survived. In fact, you keep your start in the frig when not using it and that is cold. I know some people freeze their starts as an easy way to share them.

[Earthling]

Sign - did you ever try that sourdough start I gave you?

[signseeker]

I'm keeping it going, but haven't used it yet... I'm going to make the pizza dough one of these days... maybe this weekend! I'll return and report. That's cool about freezing it!

[Noahs ARK]

My sourdough start (from the Yukon - over 100 years old) handles the cold just fine. It is one tough start - went over 5 months without being used while we remodeled our kitchen and survived. In fact, you keep your start in the frig when not using it and that is cold. I know some people freeze their starts as an easy way to share them.

Is that recipe of yours posted here somewhere?

[Babbi-Dan]

My sourdough start (from the Yukon - over 100 years old) handles the cold just fine. It is one tough start - went over 5 months without being used while we remodeled our kitchen and survived. In fact, you keep your start in the frig when not using it and that is cold. I know some people freeze their starts as an easy way to share them.

Did you ever try to make bread using your sourdough starter over a campfire when it's 20 degrees outside? If so, how did it work out?

[Babbi-Dan]

Sign:
The recipe you gave me at Cooks had a pkg of yeast in the starter. Should this have yeast?

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,194,157182-224206,00.html

I read somewhere that the air has mold spores and the sourdough starter picks them up. Of course, I don't see how that happens when your starter is in a bag all tied up!

[Babbi-Dan]

Toss it?? :d0 (65):

Okay, next time I make a batch, I'll put a baggy in the garage and see how it goes. I imagine you'd have to sleep with it in your non-avow tent if it came to that, to keep it from freezing. Maybe just keep it inside your shirt... heh. Another bonus of having smaller amounts of start going instead of the gallon baggy size.

I too read that the pioneer women actually slept with their sourdough starters to keep the starters warm. They didn't have zip-lock bags back then, so I often wonder how they did that without tipping the crock over in their bed!

[Babbi-Dan]

Irish Soda Bread doesn't need rising. Lots of recipes to choose from. I recommend you all try experimenting with some of those recipes.

[signseeker]

I read somewhere that the air has mold spores and the sourdough starter picks them up. Of course, I don't see how that happens when your starter is in a bag all tied up!

Yeah, I think that's it. I leave quite a bit of air in the bag until it starts bubbling on it's own. I'll change out the air and squish it at the same time.

Babs... you got a fave Irish Soda Bread recipe? St. Patty's is coming up. :l0:

[Babbi-Dan]

Here's a recipe for Irish Soda Bread that I make quite often. It always comes out perfect, even when I make it over a campfire in my Dutch oven.

NOTE: No one has my permission to copy or paste this recipe onto "That other site" (that rhymes with "a cow"). If they don't want my comments, they don't get my info either.


Soda Bread

butter, for greasing
generous 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
generous 2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
generous 1 3/4 cups unsweetened yogurt

Grease a cookie sheet with butter and dust lightly with flour.

Strain both types of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Tip any bran remaining in the strainer into the bowl.

In a pitcher, beat together the egg and yogurt and pour the mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together to make a soft and sticky dough.

On a lightly floured counter, knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth, then shape the dough into a round about 2 inches deep.

Transfer the dough to the prepared cookie sheet. Mark a cross shape in the center of the top of the dough.

Bake in a preheated oven, 375 degrees F, for about 40-45 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.

Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let cool. Cut into slices to serve.

For a fruity version of this soda bread, add 3/4 cup of raisins to the dry ingredients.

[Earthling]

Did you ever try to make bread using your sourdough starter over a campfire when it's 20 degrees outside? If so, how did it work out?

Nope - but it is a good idea to try!

[Earthling]

Is that recipe of yours posted here somewhere?

There isn't a recipe to post. It is a "start" - a part of the dough that is kept when you make bread so you can use it to start another loaf. It raises via wild yeast. There are some recipes to make starts but they aren't very good. You see the more it ages the more wild yeast the bread acquires which give it the flavor. Also - my start has been around the world picking up lots of different wild yeast. It is also so old that the stronger yeast spores have survived. It either had to adopt to cold in the Yukon or die. It had to be pretty tough to go 5 months without being fed in my frig.:wink5:

[Babbi-Dan]

Nope - but it is a good idea to try!

You can't make bread over a campfire when it's 20 degrees outside! At least I haven't found a way to do it. The only way I could get bread to turn out in the winter months, outside, on a campfire, was to make the Irish Soda Bread.

None of the other breads, regular, friendship, sourdough, would rise because you just can't get the heat high enough to get it to rise. I tried several different techniques and none of them worked.

[signseeker]

My Self-Reliant bread bakes in a cooler oven... 325*... I wonder if that might matter?

'Course, if it's 5* and all you have is a campfire, beggars can't be choosers, eh?

[Babbi-Dan]

You can bake it, you just can't get it to rise.

[signseeker]

Yeah, if I'm up poopoo creek that far, I'll be glad to have anything edible. :)