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How to make yeast at home while confinement lasts

2020-04-22T06:34:11.860Z


Scarcity is not a problem for which there is no solution


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First was the toilet paper fever. Then the supermarket shelves ran out of flour and the yeast necessary to bake baguettes , ciabatta, muffins and brioches at home. In an act of generosity, some establishments hung in the hole that had been the recipe to make it at home: "100 milliliters of beer, 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Mix, cover with filmand let sit overnight. The quantity corresponds to a unit of yeast [a packet], "reads the sign of the Consum supermarket chain. This way we can prepare it at home from the ferment of this drink as the bakers did centuries ago, but let's not run to try it one of those cans that we have in the fridge because it won't work.

The formula has a trick. The mushroom used to prepare beer is "the same species used to make bread ", explains Cruzcampo master brewer Juan Navarro, so in principle we could reproduce it at home following the directions given by the supermarket and we would obtain the so precious yeast. The problem is that most industrial beers no longer have this living being among its components . "For reasons of product homogeneity, the drink is filtered and pasteurized, and this kills and eliminates the fungus," says home baker and food technologist Gus Oliet. So beyond a while of entertainment mixing the ingredients and a night of rest, we would never get the bread dough to ferment.

To reproduce yeast with this recipe, it is necessary to look for those beers that have not gone through these processes, such as craft beers , according to both experts. "The ideals are those that have had a second fermentation in the bottle", clarifies the master brewer and provides a good trick to choose them: " At the bottom of the bottles of these drinks we can see a dense cloud of white . It is what popularly known as 'grounds' and where the fungus we are looking for is located. " Also, the fresher it is, the better. "Being a sensitive organism, the ideal is for the drink to be bottled for a short time," continues Navarro. The delicacy of this living being also makes it vulnerable to changes in temperature, it is better to leave it out of the fridge. Now yes, with these keys we can get the precious mushroom to bake some of the delicious bread recipes that the best bakers in Spain contributed to this medium, although the food technologist recommends another "more fun" way to make yeast: prepare sourdough at home.

Flour, water, time and a very curious process

Unlike the beer option, where we wanted to reproduce the yeast, with this method "it is about creating the ideal medium for the fungus to come out," explains Beatriz Echeverría, baker of El Horno de Babette. It only takes three ingredients: 80 grams of flour rye or wheat (the rye and integral they are preferable because there are more fungi on them), 80 milliliters of water and time ( a lot), it should not be hard to find these days quarantine. From here begins a fun experiment in the purest style of school chemistry classes (perfect for entertaining children at home for several days).

"We mix the flour and the water in a bowl or in a glass jar to be able to see the activity that it has," says the baker, who recommends that the water be lukewarm: "More or less at body temperature, about 36ºC. Yes we do it in summer, a little cooler. " Then we let it rest. After 24 hours we must add a tablespoon of flour and another of water, to avoid mold . We mix it again and leave it again until we see that holes begin to appear. "It depends on the conditions of the site, but they usually leave around the second day," says Echeverría. From here, we will begin to notice changes in its appearance (there will be more and more holes) and in its smell: "First it is like wet flour, then it becomes yogurt and finally it looks more like vinegar."

"On the fourth day, it's time to refresh the mixture," says Echeverría. In other words, we will throw away half of what we have and add another 80 grams of flour and another 80 milliliters of water. In the fifth we will do the same and in the sixth we will refresh in the morning and afternoon. "When you take three or four days (that is to say the ninth or tenth) doing it twice a day, the sourdough will be ready to make bread," says the baker. The amount we use will depend on the bread recipe that we want to prepare. The rest we can keep. "We store a little in the fridge, where it will go into a state of hibernation. When we want to use it again, we must take it out and refresh it a few times in the morning and in the afternoon."

The sourdough is not only useful as yeast for bread, we can also make pizzas with it. Although forget about making a cake : "It is a different process. For this, it is necessary to generate air that elevates it. It can be achieved with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice (or vinegar) or beating egg white until it seems a cloud [known as a snow point], "concludes the baker. 

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Source: elparis

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