Do It Yourself!!!
I love the Blogs I follow. We are an amazing People.
Now-a-days we are up against some enormous odds.
I don't know what all is true and what might be a bit of hype, but just in case....
Here is something I just tried for the first time.
It was really cool and I wanted to share.
In the distant past I found a couple of useful books in the grocery checkout lane. One in particular (of the three useful books I have bought from the checkout lane in my lifetime)
The Miracle of Garlic & Vinegar 1996, James Edmond O'Brien. I am assuming I have the right to let you know the useful information found there in. I am not reproducing this verbatim, so.....
Making Vinegar at Home
by Dr. Dian Dincin Buchman
*You need a wide mouth jar, or crock and covers.
I used a restaurant size pickle jar.
(I love the store Cash N Carry. It is like my favorite grocery store!)
*leftover apple peals, cores(I didn't use cores), bruised or soft apples that no one will eat raw.
Put the apples (cut the whole ones up just a little) in your selected jar/crock.
Cover them with cold water. Place the lid on the jar, and store in a warm place.
An amount of time was not mentioned. So, the experiment is part of the process. If this is not a pleasurable idea, let someone else do it and use your barter sense to make an exchange. Oh, I have an idea, say apples for cider vinegar?
Occasionally lift the lid and add whatever additional cores, peels and pieces you can. Strain off the froth as you go along. When you can smell the vinegar smell and it tastes right, strain out the apples and pour the liquid into a sterilized bottle and cork/seal for future use.
Aeration is the key to souring a vinegar. If you want to quicken the fermentation process, add a small amount of live yeast in a brown paper bag to your container (I did not, it is as quick of a process as anything, as is).
To aerate as farmer once did, keep two barrels with spigots. In one barrel, make the vinegar as described above. In the other barrel, keep matchstick thin sticks of birch or beech boards. After a few days, open the faucets and allow the cider to dribble through the birch or beech boards.
As soon as the second barrel fills up, pour the vinegar into the first barrel again. This process may be repeated several times.
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SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST
Wild yeasts exist in the air around you and to some extent on the wheat berries. There are wild yeasts on grapes (unsulphured) and apples and other fruits. It is those wild yeasts which are 'captured' to make a sourdough starter. The process takes from 3 to 5 days. I wish I had specific amounts for you, but you could start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour and mix in enough warm (not hot) water to make a thin paste. DO NOT make it too soupy. That, in fact, is the trick to a good starter, according to the French bread makers, and I think they should know. And after you've fooled around with the flour and water thing, you might wish to branch out into adding those unsulphured grapes, apples, sour milk, etc as a catalyst in order to capture other strains of yeast. Each of these strains has a slightly different taste. In fact if you move to another area, you might end up with a starter that produces an entirely different flavor. For instance, San Francisco sourdough bread is well known and has a distinct taste due to the wild strains in the air there. On day one you mix the flour and water (and add any catalysts to encourage fermentation) and place in a warm spot. After 3 days, the dough should be moist, inflated, and slightly sour. More flour and water is added (mixed in) and left to sit in a warm spot. After 2 days the process is repeated. Then the next day it is done again. Note the order: 3 days, 2 days, 1 day. At this point you should be able to make a loaf of bread using part of the starter and adding back what you took out in the form of more flour and water. Rule of thumb: Use about 10% starter to size of loaf. In the case of a 2 lb loaf this is a bit over 3 oz of starter (3.2 to be exact). For a 1 lb loaf 1.5 oz would be used. A book that describes this process in great detail is The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz, copyright 1993, published by Ten Speed Press, Berkley CA. If it's not still in print, try the used books stores, that's where I got mine. Or try your local library. If they don't have it, they might be able to get it for you. ©2008 by Ernestina Parziale
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