The quest for achieving self-sufficiency can sometimes crystallize in the smallest moments. In bread making, you can grow wheat or other grains and grind your own flour. How many people take it to the next step, and grow their own yeast?
Sourdough baking is nothing new. Some cultures, such as the ancient Egyptians, were baking risen breads 6,000 years ago, long before you could take a drive down to the corner store for a packet of yeast or bit of baking soda. Wild yeasts have been around for as long as grains have. They have been utilized by humans since the first bakers discovered that moistened flour left out will ferment and expand, the result of colonization by yeasts in the air.
The word "sourdough" was coined in America, when prospectors flocked to California and then up to Alaska in search of gold. Their bubbling starters would contain cultures of yeasts and associated beneficial bacteria, and these cultures produced lactic and acetic acids. It's these acids which give sourdough bread its characteristic sour taste and odor. The prospectors were so fond of their breads that the acidic odor would penetrate their clothes as well, earning the name "sourdough" for both the person and the loaf.
Sourdough bread was the staff of life for those taming America's wild west, those archetypes of homesteading. The treasured starters, nestled in ceramic crocks, would hit the trails with the cowboys, and the bread was the basic campfire food alongside pork and beans. The allure of the recapturing the pioneer ways, along with the fine flavor and self sufficiency, makes the art of the sourdough one well worth pursuing.
A field guide to wild yeasts
Just what are yeasts, and how does one capture and tame them? On a basic level, yeasts are fungi, just like mushrooms. Of course, yeasts don't grow into buttons, caps and shelves like their cousins do, but rather reproduce as single celled organisms or occasionally strands known as filaments or mycelium.
On a larger level, dry yeasts look like powder, as you can see by buying a packet at the store, but the store isn't the only habitat for these tiny helpful fungi. Yeasts are found everywhere in nature, but often in such small amount they can't be seen by the naked eye. They are quite common on the surface of plants (even store-bought flour will have some yeast organisms already living in it). They can be found in soil and in salt water. They are even found on the skin and in the digestive tract of warm-blooded animals such as humans (But take note: the helpful true yeasts that rise bread, of Saccharomyces genus and various species, are not the same as the yeast-like fungus Candida albicans. Avoiding risen breads out of concern for yeast infections is like avoiding apples because you're allergic to strawberries).
There are some places where yeast is present in quantities large enough to be visible other than the grocery store. If you see a white dusty powder on a plant in the wild, chances are you're seeing yeast. Where I live, the easiest place to find this is on wild grapes. In fact, it's nearly impossible to find a bunch of grapes without a powdery coat. This coat is the yeast. On a recent walk, I took notice of a similar coat on a rose branch, between the thorns. Other good places to look are on blueberries, juniper berries and on aspen bark.
Once you've located the wild yeast, the capture is easy. Just clip a bunch of berries or small section of bark (being careful not to ring or otherwise hurt the tree). A handful is all you need. Place the booty in a bag and bring it home.
Alternatively, you can work with yeasts that you can't see. Not only are there yeasts already cohabitating with your flour, but you'll find spores in the air that are waiting and eager to be coaxed into a starter. If you've done any baking with commercial yeasts in the area before, there will even be strains of domesticated yeasts lurking about waiting to pounce on whatever food you provide them. It can be fun to try different methods and different yeast sources. Be creative and judge the results yourself for flavor, texture and rising ability.
The starter: How to get a little culture in your life
So you've got your berries, or bark, or you've decided to experience the magic of yeasts appearing out of thin air. The next step is really the beginning of the whole process, the creation of the aptly named starter.
As mentioned previously, the starter or sponge is a culture of organisms that will give your bread not only its rising ability but also that traditional sourdough twang. Although we're focusing on yeasts, there is another class of micro-organism that lives in the culture and is a vital part of the sourdough process. This is the bacteria known as lactobacillus.
Lactobacillus is really a class of helpful bacteria that works with the yeast in the starter in a beautiful symbiosis. While the yeast digests the carbohydrates in the starter it produces food for the lactobacillus, and the bacteria in turn produces the acids responsible for the sourdough flavor and protects the bread from encroaching molds, thus preserving it. No need to worry about hunting for this helpful little critter: you'll capture it when you capture your yeast.
There are as many variations on crafting your own starter as there are on bread itself, but the basic method is fairly simple. Notice that simple does not necessarily mean easy. You are always co-creating the starter with your friendly micro-organisms, and there's always the possibility that something could go wrong (such as an invasion of unfriendly microbes). Don't let that scare you off. I've found my local yeasts and lactobacilli to be real troopers capable of working miracles when treated with love and respect. There's no reason yours won't be when treated the same.
Friendly critters
The basic ingredients for a starter are flour, water and friendly critters, whether they be on grapes or just hanging around in the air waiting to drop in. For flour, whole grain is best, and not only from a nutritional standpoint. Whole grains have more of the enzymes that help the fermenting process along. Rye flour is particularly helpful as it is higher in the sugars that the yeast feeds on. Water can be anything from tap water to bottled water to water from melted snow gathered on a month long spiritual journey to the highest peak in Tibet, as long as it doesn't contain anything harmful (such as high levels of chlorine found in many city water supplies).
To start, mix in a clean glass vessel (I sometimes use a cleaned out spaghetti sauce jar), a cup of flour, a cup of water and your yeast source (if using). Cover, such as with cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel (or the lid to the jar, left loose), and leave for 24 hours in a warm spot. Prospectors used to sleep with their starter in their sleeping bag, but any non-drafty room will do. Each day thereafter mix in about half a cup of flour and a quarter cup of water. This is to provide the burgeoning culture with fresh food, otherwise the little critters may run out and the starter will fail or be taken over by slime. Soon, maybe three to five days after beginning, the sponge will bubble and you will smell the fermentation. At this point the starter can be refrigerated (screw the lid on the jar now) or used immediately. Once refrigerated, the starter needs to be fed or used about every two weeks to a month.
Once you've got the basics down, you can experiment with various additions. Some possibilities include a adding a spoon of cider vinegar (raw, if possible, as the vinegar's culture will enhance the bread's), adding a touch of some sweetener (such as molasses), or starting with cultured buttermilk rather than water. A little investigation on this topic will yield many possibilities, just be open and listen to your own inner voice.
The main event: The loaf itself
All of this microbe-wrangling and culture-farming can be fun in and of itself, but the real purpose behind it all is the bread making. You can use the starter in place of commercial yeast in a standard recipe. Try using a cup of the sponge in place of a packet of yeast. Increase the rising time as necessary, as most wild yeasts aren't as fast-acting as commercial yeast (the greyhound of the yeast world).
Alternately, you can go back to the basics of bread making-all you really need is more flour and water. Combine a cup of the starter with about four cups of flour and add water while kneading until it reaches the desired consistency. If you've never made bread before, you probably won't know what this is, and trial and error are good but rough teachers. Shoot for the consistency of your earlobe. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, perhaps overnight. Punch it down and knead again for a few minutes, finally shaping it into loaf form. Let rise again and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until it sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.
You can add to this ultra-basic recipe as your creativity dictates. Possibilities include a teaspoon of salt, a bit of honey or molasses and a few tablespoons of butter or oil.
Sourdough baking can help you feel like a pioneer and ease reliance on commercial sources for your ingredients. In my experience, it's more of an art than a science, and can't be mastered just from reading a set of directions. You have to get out there and do it, combining what you've read with your natural instincts. Fabulous taste and texture will be your reward.
