Natural yeast water is a little secret in the sourdough baking world.
I'm no expert, but I've successfully made loaves using three different natural yeast starters from fermented apples, sultanas and grapes.
For anyone struggling to make a starter with just flour and water, then this method is for you! It's a super simple process where you can achieve a very active and strong starter with not much work involved.. and it's also a perfect method for anyone wanting to make a gluten-free starter.
Basically you soak fruit (preferably organic) in water for a few days then remove the fruit and add flour and Voilà ! Instant starter!
It works almost the same as a regular starter, though, in my experience I've found a few differences with the method for the dough and also in the texture and flavour of the final loaf.
But best of all, it's lots of fun and amazing to see how nature works!
Enjoy :)
1: Cut up one cup of organic fruit of your choice. (Eg. Apples, grapes, sutanas and plums work well)
2: Place in a large jar (1ltr) that has a well sealed lid.
3: Then pour into the jar about 2 cups of water.*
3: Shake the jar vigorously twice a day for up to 5 days - Careful that the lid doesn't explode! (Powerful stuff!)
[How to tell if it's ready is when it gets really fizzy like soft drink and there are bubbles coming up to the surface and the bubbles linger well after shaking. If for some reason you're not getting the bubbles and fizz by the 5th day, then discard the old fruit and replace with new fruit and continue shaking twice a day for a couple more days. Another way to give it a boost is to add a little honey to it as well]
4: When you see that it's ready, remove the fruit then add the same weight of your choice in flour (perfect for gluten-free flour) to the water and mix well - make sure you leave enough room in your jar (at least half) as it will double in size.
5: Wait for up to 12hrs for it to kick start (bubble and rise).
Then you can use!
*You can scale these amounts down if you like. Eg. Half a cup of fruit and 1 cup of water.
Maintenance:
Once your starter is established (bubbling and rising) I recommend keeping it in the fridge and then bring it out when you want to use. Or if you're not using regularly, then just make sure you feed it once a week to keep it healthy- just take it out of the fridge and give it a small feed, leave it a room temperature for a couple of hours then pop it back in the fridge again.
I've found that I needed to add quite a bit of this starter to my dough to get good rise out of it, especially when it's young (about 40% to the flour total, with 6hrs bulk fermentation). Or if adding less, it will need a lot longer to bulk ferment.
To feed when you want to use:
There is no real need to discard any to keep it active before a feed unless you need more room in your jar.
If you have quite a bit already in your jar and you want to activate it before using, then just give it a small feed of about 50g flour and 50g water. Then wait for it to get really bubbly, this might take a couple of hours. (It may not rise much due to a small feed)
If you don't have much in your jar when you want to begin using, then give it a really good feed of 100g flour and the same weight in water. This should give you enough for my yeast water sourdough recipe. It might take 6 + hrs to reach it's peak after this big feed and it will rise quite a bit.
In both instances, whether a small or large feed, you need to wait until it looks very bubbly (especially on top) before using - this means it's fully activated.
~~~
Over time, a yeast water starter can be turned into a traditional starter.
Please read my write up on 'A guide to maintaining your starter' and follow the principal of daily feeds of equal weights of starter/flour/water over a few days and it will become very strong and active. You can then treat it exactly like a regular starter. I recommend using rye flour to give it an extra boost.
2: Place in a large jar (1ltr) that has a well sealed lid.
3: Then pour into the jar about 2 cups of water.*
3: Shake the jar vigorously twice a day for up to 5 days - Careful that the lid doesn't explode! (Powerful stuff!)
[How to tell if it's ready is when it gets really fizzy like soft drink and there are bubbles coming up to the surface and the bubbles linger well after shaking. If for some reason you're not getting the bubbles and fizz by the 5th day, then discard the old fruit and replace with new fruit and continue shaking twice a day for a couple more days. Another way to give it a boost is to add a little honey to it as well]
4: When you see that it's ready, remove the fruit then add the same weight of your choice in flour (perfect for gluten-free flour) to the water and mix well - make sure you leave enough room in your jar (at least half) as it will double in size.
5: Wait for up to 12hrs for it to kick start (bubble and rise).
Then you can use!
*You can scale these amounts down if you like. Eg. Half a cup of fruit and 1 cup of water.
Maintenance:
Once your starter is established (bubbling and rising) I recommend keeping it in the fridge and then bring it out when you want to use. Or if you're not using regularly, then just make sure you feed it once a week to keep it healthy- just take it out of the fridge and give it a small feed, leave it a room temperature for a couple of hours then pop it back in the fridge again.
I've found that I needed to add quite a bit of this starter to my dough to get good rise out of it, especially when it's young (about 40% to the flour total, with 6hrs bulk fermentation). Or if adding less, it will need a lot longer to bulk ferment.
To feed when you want to use:
There is no real need to discard any to keep it active before a feed unless you need more room in your jar.
If you have quite a bit already in your jar and you want to activate it before using, then just give it a small feed of about 50g flour and 50g water. Then wait for it to get really bubbly, this might take a couple of hours. (It may not rise much due to a small feed)
If you don't have much in your jar when you want to begin using, then give it a really good feed of 100g flour and the same weight in water. This should give you enough for my yeast water sourdough recipe. It might take 6 + hrs to reach it's peak after this big feed and it will rise quite a bit.
In both instances, whether a small or large feed, you need to wait until it looks very bubbly (especially on top) before using - this means it's fully activated.
~~~
Over time, a yeast water starter can be turned into a traditional starter.
Please read my write up on 'A guide to maintaining your starter' and follow the principal of daily feeds of equal weights of starter/flour/water over a few days and it will become very strong and active. You can then treat it exactly like a regular starter. I recommend using rye flour to give it an extra boost.
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