BREAD WITH WILD YEAST THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME
Harvesting the yeast
Day One: Put 2 cups of warm (not hot) water and 2 cups of white flour into a large mixing bowl and stir it with a wooden spoon or with your fingers, breaking up the lumps. It should be thick and wet, like pea soup.
Now, take the mixture for a walk around the premises. Go outside and walk with it around your house, yard or garden. Stop for a few moments under a tree or beside a bush. Enjoy yourself. Walk through some flowers. There is yeast out there, in the air, and you want it to land on your flour and water mixture and begin to grow.
If you wish, gently touch a few leaves or flowers and stir the mixture again with your fingers. This picks up wild yeast, too.
Set the bowl somewhere outside for a few hours if possible, if the temperature is above freezing. Cover it with a loose-weave fabric or cheesecloth to keep out insects.
Now, bring the bowl inside the house. I like to leave mine on the kitchen table where I can observe its changes.
Nourishing your mixture
Here is where faith comes in. Have faith that some wild yeast found your mixture and will start feeding on it. It will.
Day two: In the morning, examine your flour/water “soup.” There will be some irregularities on the surface of it. Look for bubbles of various sizes. Observe places where air bubbles have risen up and popped on the surface, leaving tiny traces. There may be a little activity or a lot, but even the presence of a few air bubbles are enough to indicate that your mixture has attracted some wild yeast.
Time to feed your living goop! I do this is the mornings, starting on now, on Day Two. Add to your mixture approximately 1 cup of warm water and 1 cup of white flour. Stir it, preferably with your fingers. Cover it again with a cloth. Start calling it by another name: LEAVEN.
This is an exciting time. Within a few hours, you’ll notice more activity in your mixture. The yeast is digesting this new food you’re given it, is growing and producing carbon dioxide, which forms the bubbles you see. It will continue to feed until it runs out of something to eat, and then the yeast will rest. The bubble activity will probably (but not always) cease during the night, and by the next morning it might seem dormant. Don’t worry. It’s just napping.
Day Three, morning: Time for another feeding! Add another cup of white flour and cup of warm water, and stir it with your fingers again. At this point or the following day, some bakers prefer to discard half the mixture because they think they’re getting too much of it. I keep mine, though. As it did on Day Two, the mixture will bubble up slowly over a period of a few hours and then settle down.
Day Four: Repeat Day Three’s process today, and perhaps for another day, until you feel like your yeast mixture, your leaven, is trained. How can you tell? Because it responds when you feed it. It responds to its schedule.
MAKING THE BREAD WITH YOUR WILD STARTER: See Chad Robertson's excellent video. Instead of the "starter" he refers to, use your WILD HARVESTED YEAST.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIIjV6s-0cA
Harvesting the yeast
Day One: Put 2 cups of warm (not hot) water and 2 cups of white flour into a large mixing bowl and stir it with a wooden spoon or with your fingers, breaking up the lumps. It should be thick and wet, like pea soup.
Now, take the mixture for a walk around the premises. Go outside and walk with it around your house, yard or garden. Stop for a few moments under a tree or beside a bush. Enjoy yourself. Walk through some flowers. There is yeast out there, in the air, and you want it to land on your flour and water mixture and begin to grow.
If you wish, gently touch a few leaves or flowers and stir the mixture again with your fingers. This picks up wild yeast, too.
Set the bowl somewhere outside for a few hours if possible, if the temperature is above freezing. Cover it with a loose-weave fabric or cheesecloth to keep out insects.
Now, bring the bowl inside the house. I like to leave mine on the kitchen table where I can observe its changes.
Nourishing your mixture
Here is where faith comes in. Have faith that some wild yeast found your mixture and will start feeding on it. It will.
Day two: In the morning, examine your flour/water “soup.” There will be some irregularities on the surface of it. Look for bubbles of various sizes. Observe places where air bubbles have risen up and popped on the surface, leaving tiny traces. There may be a little activity or a lot, but even the presence of a few air bubbles are enough to indicate that your mixture has attracted some wild yeast.
Time to feed your living goop! I do this is the mornings, starting on now, on Day Two. Add to your mixture approximately 1 cup of warm water and 1 cup of white flour. Stir it, preferably with your fingers. Cover it again with a cloth. Start calling it by another name: LEAVEN.
This is an exciting time. Within a few hours, you’ll notice more activity in your mixture. The yeast is digesting this new food you’re given it, is growing and producing carbon dioxide, which forms the bubbles you see. It will continue to feed until it runs out of something to eat, and then the yeast will rest. The bubble activity will probably (but not always) cease during the night, and by the next morning it might seem dormant. Don’t worry. It’s just napping.
Day Three, morning: Time for another feeding! Add another cup of white flour and cup of warm water, and stir it with your fingers again. At this point or the following day, some bakers prefer to discard half the mixture because they think they’re getting too much of it. I keep mine, though. As it did on Day Two, the mixture will bubble up slowly over a period of a few hours and then settle down.
Day Four: Repeat Day Three’s process today, and perhaps for another day, until you feel like your yeast mixture, your leaven, is trained. How can you tell? Because it responds when you feed it. It responds to its schedule.
MAKING THE BREAD WITH YOUR WILD STARTER: See Chad Robertson's excellent video. Instead of the "starter" he refers to, use your WILD HARVESTED YEAST.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIIjV6s-0cA
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Kate Phillips' GF RecipeIngredients:
Levin 100g starter 100g sorghum flour 100mL lukewarm water Dough 100g sorghum flour 100g brown rice flour 100g tapioca starch 30g psyllium husk flour 550mL lukewarm water (split 350, 200) Directions: 1. Mix all ingredients for levin. Round levin into a ball. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest in a dark, warm place for 12 hours. 2. Take levin out and break apart. Add sorghum flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and psyllium husk to levin. Mix very well. I use my hands for this to break apart clumps. 3. Add 350mL of water. Mix very well with hands. Knead dough until mixture forms into a ball. You want some moisture to be retained. Cover with wet cloth and store in warm dark place for 1 hour. 4. Add 100mL of water and knead dough again. Slowly add remaining water until satisfied with texture. Knead into a ball (~10-15 minutes). Cover with wet cloth and store in warm dark place for 10 hours. 5. When ready, place dutch oven into regular oven and preheat to 480°. 6. Score dough, place on parchment paper, and drizzle dough with water. Sprinkle with salt. 7. Bake for 30 minutes with lid on. Remove lid and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. 8. Cool completely and enjoy!! |
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The Community Oven will re-open when the social distancing order is ended. We hope to see you later this year!
Thank you, TOWN OF CARBONDALE, for your 2020 donation! You are the best. What a town. The Carbondale Community Oven appreciates all your support over the years.
ASPEN THRIFT SHOP
Thank you AGAIN for your generous donation! You are the BEST. July 2019
THANK YOU, Rebekahs (Near New) of Carbondale
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Where do we get all our dough?
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THANK YOU
Aspen Thrift Shop
...once again, for your generous donation! Your help will support our 2018 programs. We sure appreciate you!
Click here to read Nicolette Toussaint's article about the Bread Oven in the January issue of Roaring Fork Magazine
Work crew Charlie Cady and Erich Vogt pose inside the new oven shelter and outdoor classroom. Thank you, Town of Carbondale and all who helped secure funding for this much-needed structure! This public amenity is available for all to enjoy.
The Community Oven is about sharing the bread we make with our own hands. Come see. Come bake.
The Carbondale Community Oven is an outdoor masonry wood-burning oven like those used to bake bread and pizza all over the world. Locals refer to it as "The Bread Oven." We meet regularly to bake and share our creations. Everyone is invited, and there is no fee to bake. We ask that you share a taste of your bread with the group or bring butter, oil, toppings or beverages. Donations are always welcome.
Imagine popping a loaf of homemade artisan bread onto the hearth, closing the oven door, and spending the next hour with your friends while you wait for the food to be baked. It's a time to share ideas, talk about our community, catch up with old friends, and eat delicious food together.
Community Ovens have been around for thousands of years. They save on fuel, keep kitchens clean and cool, bring people together and remind us we are all one tribe.
We invite you to give our oven a try...or build one in your own community!
Imagine popping a loaf of homemade artisan bread onto the hearth, closing the oven door, and spending the next hour with your friends while you wait for the food to be baked. It's a time to share ideas, talk about our community, catch up with old friends, and eat delicious food together.
Community Ovens have been around for thousands of years. They save on fuel, keep kitchens clean and cool, bring people together and remind us we are all one tribe.
We invite you to give our oven a try...or build one in your own community!
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