==========The first recipe===============
Step 1: This step pulls the wild yeast from the air in your kitchen. The more you bake with yeast, the more you'll have in your air, so be sure to capture yeast shortly after you bake bread.
Combine in a medium-sized bowl: 2 cups of warm water, 1 tablespoon white table sugar, 2 cups of flour. Cover bowl with a cheesecloth, and place in a warm area in the kitchen. Stir every day at least once. When it bubbles, it means you have captured yeast from the air. From then on, just allow it to sit for 3-4 days to continue to bubble.
Step 2: This step makes the yeast into something you can use.
After the 3-4 days of bubbling, prepare a cookie sheet or dehydrator tray with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Thinly spread the liquid mixture on the prepared tray. When dry, break the dried yeast into small chunks. Grind into a powder (food processor or mortar/pestle). Use what you need. For longer, place in an air-tight container and store for short term in refrigerator. For long term storage, freeze in the container.
Step 3: This step shows how to use the yeast you made. This yeast isn't as concentrated as the yeast you can purchase (since it's mostly flour), so plan to use 1 cup of homemade yeast for 1 ounce of store-bought yeast.
Take 1 cup of liquid that your recipe calls for, and dissolve 1 cup of homemade yeast in it. Make the dough, making sure to reduce the flour you need by 1 cup (because your yeast is mostly flour!). Knead and rise dough as usual, which may take longer to do. Bake as usual.
==========The second recipe===============
Have you ever tried using potato water to make yeast? Get a potato from your garden or buy a potato from your local ORGANIC grocer (pesticide/herbicide treated ones will not work as well and may hurt you). DO NOT WASH POTATO! If it has dirt on it, wipe it as clean as you can with a dry dishtowel. Cut potato in half, put it in a large mug or bowl and pour 2 cups of warm (not hot!) water over it.
Let set up to two days...you'll see bubbles or a kind of froth on the top of the water. Fish that potato out and add it to the compost heap. Add 1/4 cup of flour and one teaspoon of sugar or honey to the potato water and stir gently.Let set overnight -- there's your starter for many good loaves of bread! Use one cup of starter for two loaves of bread. Add 1 cup of warm water, 1/2 cup flour and a teaspoon of sugar/honey to replenish your starter each time you use some. I keep mine in a small stoneware crock in a cool dark corner of my pantry.
==========The third recipe===============
Let me explain how to cultivate natural yeast.
Fruits, vegetables and all other things in natural settings have yeast around their surface.
You can separate those yeast by simply soaking them into water for several days.
Originally commercial yeast (Saf, fermipan or allstar....) were cultivated in a same way and strong yeast cells were separated and cultivated for stable fermentation (rise).
You need:
A clean glass jar ( I use 24 oz apple sauce jar from Trader Joe's)
Clean water (purified or bottled water, tap water ok, don't use alkaline water)
Organic raisin (almost any kind of dry fruits work but raisin's yeast is strong, I prefer green raisin)
1. Put a hand ful of raisin in the jar. (*about 3-4 tablespoonful. when you put more fruits it will be done sooner)
2. pour water to fill 80% of the jar.
3. loosely close the jar.
4. leave it at room temperature.
5. wait for few days until small bubbles surface and smells like wine.
(almost all raisins should be floating by this time)
(It would be done in about 3 days in summer, 6-7 days in winter.)
If you don't have enough amount of one kind of dry fruit, you can mix several kinds such as raisin, apricot, apple or cranberry.
6. once it's done, store it in refrigerator.
Now you have your own natural yeast water for baking!
**ADDING 1-2 TBSP "SUGAR" OR "HONEY" TO YOUR JAR MAKES YOUR YEAST WATER FERMENT FASTER AND LEAD TO BETTER RESULT. (YOU CAN GET 'STRONGER' YEAST WATER)
==========The fourth recipe===============
Before yeast was available in grocery stores, bakers kept colonies of yeast for making bread. These colonies were known as starters, and were sometimes passed on from generation to generation. You can make your own starter using commercial yeast, by using potato water (from boiled potatoes) to attract and feed wild yeasts present in the air around us, or by using the yeast found on the skins of organic grapes or organic raisins. Keep the starter in a one-quart crock, jar, or airtight container. Wild Grape Starter
Sourdough Starter II
Rye Starter
Sourdough Starter (Wheat)
Amish Friendship Bread Starter
Feeding your starter
Feed your starter by taking one cup of the starter and discarding any left in the jar. In a mixing bowl, combine the reserved starter, one cup flour, and one cup tepid water (measurements need not be exact). Use a whisk, spatula or even your hands to mix it well. Add more water if necessary; it should resemble pancake batter. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. If your kitchen is cold, the starter may need more time to show some activity--bubbles and visible growth; be patient. Feed as above. After a starter has been growing for 5 or 6 days, it can be stored in the refrigerator to slow its growth and to free you from the daily feeding schedule. Feed refrigerated starters once a week, allowing them to grow at room temperature before returning them to the fridge.
Baking with your starter
About two to three days before you plan to bake, remove the starter from the refrigerator. Let it warm to room temperature to get active. Feed it twice the first day and every 4 to 6 hours on the second: the repeated introduction of fresh food should make the yeast very active. If you plan to make multiple loaves of bread, you can increase the feeding amounts: use two cups of reserved starter, two cups flour and two cups water. When adding the starter to your recipe, always reserve a cup of your starter to continue the yeast strain! Over time, the yeast's natural fermentation process will develop wonderful flavors, giving you a one-of-a-kind family heirloom.
==========The fifth recipe===============
Step 1: Capture the Yeast
This method is dependent on how much wild yeast is circulating in the air in your kitchen at any given time. Baking frequently adds yeast to the air, so trying to capture the yeast soon after baking bread will help ensure success.
Combine in a bowl:
2 cups of warm water
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 cups of flour
Cover the bowl with cheesecloth and place in a warm area in your kitchen.
Stir the mixture once a day.
It will begin to bubble when you have captured yeast.
Allow the mixture to continue to sit for 3-4 days after you first notice the bubbles.
Step 2: Dry the Yeast
Spread the liquid mixture out on plastic wrap or waxed paper to dry.
When it is dry, break the dried yeast into chunks.
Grind the chunks into small particles using a the food processor.
Freeze the yeast in an airtight container for long term storage.
Yeast will become dormant when they do not have warmth and a food source such as sugar.
Step 3: Use the Yeast
This yeast is not as concentrated as commercial yeast. Plan on substituting one cup of homemade yeast for one ounce of commercial yeast.
Dissolve one cup of homemade yeast in one cup of whatever liquid your recipe calls for.
Make the dough, decreasing the flour used by one cup.
Knead and allow to rise as usual; be aware that he dough may take longer to double in size than if you'd used commercial yeast.
The yeast is what causes the bread to rise due to the carbon dioxide it gives off inside the dough.
