April 22, 2020 - 3:05am
White mould on my first attempt at making raisin yeast water
I've never tried this before, always used dried yeast in the past, but on my first attempt after 4 days there is white mould on the surface my raisin yeast water.
Is this normal/ok or do I need to throw it out and start again?
Thanks
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I hope others will chime in but my advice would be to toss and start again, this time making sure to shake your mix at least once a day if not more to drown any mold spores that are trying to sprout.
What raisins did you use?
I would start again with organic raisins that don't have any additives or oil coating. If you don't have an airlock setup, I suggest you cut a disc of cling film and lay it on the surface. When I first tried the yeast water I failed due to oil coating and other unknown nasties. I use kumquats from our garden with a couple of teaspoons of honey that worked great. Also, no need to shake daily, in fact, can be detrimental.
It's well worth pursuing.
Regards,
Gavin
Maybe shake is the wrong term, but I think it's important to turn the fruit so none of it stays on the surface too long: that's giving mold an opportunity to grow.
Ok, So I threw the first one away.
I couldn't find any dried fruit that didn't have oil with it. So I used some mixed grain, something like wheat, oats and also has some dried tomatoes. After 4 days it's producing bubbles so I've moved on to the next stage adding an equal quantity of flour to liquid. Anyone else tried mixed grain? Will it work?
Thanks
You dont need to make a ferment. You can just strain and use the water as is.
Make sure you sterilise your jar first!
Before starting the whole process I mean. No edits or deletes on this site?
If you are logged in you should see this on your posts.
I only see 'reply' :s
Thanks for the replies.
Yesterday I added 80g of liquid to 80g of flour and left it in a warm place for 12 hours. When I looked it had grown to 3 or 4 times the size :)
This morning I added another 80g of flour and 80g of cooled boiled water.
Fingers crossed I plan to make bread later on today or tomorrow morning.
How did your yeast water leavened bread turn out? Were you happy with the rise? Did you get any of the fabled magic aromas in the final bread?
I have been using yeast water for a few bakes know and I can't tell the difference between YW-leavened bread and conventional yeast leavened bread. But YW is way more fun...
I have made around 7 loaves now. The rise is good, and the starter grows quick, more than doubles in size within 2 or 3 hours at room temperature. I've also been experimenting with adding olives, cheese and bacon. Some of the loaves I've cooked in the oven and some I have made in my bread machine, mixing them and proving in the evening, knocking the dough back, then leaving over night in fridge and cooking in the bread machine the next morning. As for flavour there is definitely a difference. The smell of the cooked bread is fantastic, and it's great to think that it's made without buying any yeast.