SC - Re: Bread making Platina style (long)

[Jenne Heise]

I'm no expert but I can post from my own experiences muddling toward a
period-like bread (didn't know there was one in Platina)

> Obviously I''m having problems with the starter. How long do I need to wait 
> to get it to sour?

The starter I made myself (using a nonperiod recipe) took about 5 days to
sour, but it had hops and beer in it. (Yeah, that one.) Also, most of the
books I saw said that 12 hours was about right to let a bread sponge rise
(remember-- overnight for pre-modern doesn't include the 8-hour workday
outside the home!). So I've risen the sponge for about 12 hours, stirred
it down, added the rest of the flour and let it rise on the sheets. I got
disappointing results from letting the sponge rise too long.

> It sat 3.5 days in warm weather and was not ready. I don't want to resort to 
> commercial yeast, I might as well just do a non-period bread. The bread I am 
> attempting to do is based on the Platina reference I posted.

You could go to your local brewer and request some beer barm (leftover
dregs full of very tired yeast from the brewing process). I've
successfully made bread from that but to keep it moist for more than a
day, I had to put it in plastic baggies before it cooled (which is a
no-no, of course-- but I was making rye/wheat bread which also would make
a difference).

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
   "My hands are small I know, but they're not yours, they are my own"