bastet469's blog

Had some trouble with my camera so I couldn't access the pics til today. Sry :(

So here's what happened on Day 4:

All the raisins collected on the top. I'm starting to see signs of the raisins breaking down. Their edges are ragged and there's sediment collecting at the bottom of the jar.

After shaking, the raisins dispersed throughout the jar. It took over an hour for the to re-collect at the top.

The lid made a popping sound when I opened it and there were more bubbles floating on the water's surface.

Hey, 

Sorry for not posting yesterday. My back went out, as it often does, so I spent the day in bed. The raisins swelled with water a few hours into Day 1 and remained at the bottom of the jar. There was no change on Day 2.

Day 3

The swollen raisins (see above) are starting to separate from each other. Opened the jar and there's no change in the smell. Just smells like raisins. There were a few floaters and bubbles though. (below)

Hey it's Wendy here with a new starter project. :) 

While waiting on my other cultures to grow, I read about harvesting yeast from water used to ferment raisins. SCIENCE!! I'm a sucker for experiments. It's part of the reason I like bread baking to begin with. So this, I had to try. I put it together about an hour ago. (see photo) Doesn't look too appetizing does it? Lol

12:00 AM March 9, 2013 (72 hrs)

Red

Lots of small bubbles on the surface only. Sorry; too hard to photograph. :(

Blue

Flattened to sides of container but no difference in volume. Based on the time passed, the directions say I should refresh now. But it hasn't puffed up the way Sweetbird's did . Line of dough on container is the true measurement. I've decided to give this another 24 hours and see what happens. Ugh...

12:30 AM March 10, 2013 (96.5 hrs)

Red

Same surface bubbles as yesterday....

Blue

I have NO IDEA if this one is going to work. I've given this one 72 hours rather than 48 in hopes that it would puff up the way Sweetbird's did but so far it looks like a pancake that was left out to rot!!

2:45 AM March 8, 2013 (50.75 hrs)

Back trouble caused me to turn in early and miss 12 AM deadline. But change seems minimal in both ferments. To make it easier on myself, I'll be referring to the cultures by the color of the container lids: Red for Reinhart, Blue for Ortiz.

Red

Looks exactly the same as yesterday: no bubbles, no change in size.

Reinhart's book says that's to be expected. Proceeded with Phase 2 as directed.

12:00 AM March 7, 2013 (24 hrs)

Reinhart Stater

I noticed a thin layer of clear amber colored liquid develops on top of the mixture between stirs. It was too thin to photograph. Other than that, there was no chnage.

Ortiz Starter

Condensation has appeared on the sides of the container. The shape has flattened somewhat.

Welcome to my Lab of sorts.  For the next week or so, I will be documenting my progress on two different ferments I started at 12AM EST on March 6th, 2013.  The first is from Peter Reinhart's book Artisan Bread Every Day.  The other is from Joe Ortiz's The Village Baker.