Other Raise your own yeast & sourdough

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"Therefore let us feast , not with old leaven,
nor with leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
(1 Corinthians 5:8)

Interpretations of unleavened versus "leavened bread" (sourdough bread) vary widely.

Sourdough bread takes a long time to rise. But there was no time for that on the flight from Egypt. So it had to be the much more bland, simple flour bread (better: baked flour porridge). And as a reminder of the redemption of the Jews, once a year they were to do without the delicious leavened bread and celebrate the efforts of the new leavening with the subsequent consumption of the new bread.
There are certainly other interpretations.

But what do we learn from this?

Sourdough was already well known to the Israelites at the time of the Egyptians. At that time, there was no knowledge of microorganisms and other, actually highly complex processes for the "development" (better: reproduction) of yeast and bacteria (=sourdough).

And yet, thousands of years before our era, excellent sourdough breads and yeast drinks were probably already being produced. After all, wine and beer are nothing more than yeast products.

So... Even if we still can't manage to build pyramids and roads and bridges with the durability of the Egyptian and Roman originals, we can at least produce a proper sourdough bread and a wonderful yeast dough using nature's means. Regardless of whether the hamster shoppers at the supermarket have once again bought away our "bread sour" or the small yeast cubes.

We usually find everything we need for this in the household.

Do not use metal tools! Do not use metal containers or spoons or similar. Use simple wooden or glass utensils, but pay attention to meticulous cleanliness. Rule of thumb: Everything that has been boiled or boiled off is clean.

Sauerteig selbst ziehen

Ingredients: Rye flour & water.

• First day: Mix 100 g rye flour and 100 ml neutral lukewarm water (still water, good tap water with little chlorine). No boiled water!), cover and leave to rise at +/- 25°, e.g. on the radiator, boiler room, server cabinet, on the power supply unit of the computer or amplifier... If it feels pleasantly warm, then it should be fine.
  4,000 years ago there was neither a ripening cabinet nor a thermometer (18th century), and it worked!
  Of course, unlike the sourdough & flour itself, the 100 is not sacred. You can use any other amount. The more, the more stable. But it will also work with 50gr/50ml.
  
• Second day: Add 100g rye flour and 100ml lukewarm water to the mixture and mix.
  
• Third day: See second day. The first gas bubbles should now be visible. The mixture may still smell a little musty, but a first sour smell (not acrid!) should be recognizable.
  
• Fourth day: See second day.
  
• Fifth day: See second day. The smell should now be very pleasantly sour, like good sourdough bread fresh from the bakery.
  
  It may need a sixth day, by which time the sourdough is ready for further processing.
  
• Care of the sourdough: You should remove half of the sourdough about once a week. It's best to use it to bake delicious bread, but you can also dispose of it if necessary.
  And then top up the remaining amount with a mixture of 100g flour / 100ml water. Of course, any other quantity will also work.
  
  Why not simply add fresh flour / water? This is usually referred to as "feeding". Disadvantage: The old cultures remain in the batch! When rejuvenating, however, a good proportion of the old bacteria is regularly removed, which makes the sourdough batch much more active.
  
• Pauses: If you do not plan to use the sourdough for a longer period of time, you can mix it drier (add flour but less water) or reduce the total amount (e.g. remove 1/2, but only add 1/4 of the original amount fresh).
  That way you have less waste. But I wouldn't plan too long. Otherwise it's more practical to just start again from the beginning.
  
• Starter cultures: I would not add any bought sourdough mixes or starters. Homemade is something else.
  
• Cleanliness: It is essential to adhere to this, especially at the start. Later on, this batch is incredibly resistant. Make sure that no dough residue settles in the glass, e.g. on the edge of the glass. These are much more susceptible to mould infestation due to their "island position".
  If you have even the slightest suspicion of mould (colouring, islands of mould, unpleasant odour), dispose of the batch and start again.
  
• Extra tip at the end: Avoid putting flour products (sourdough, wheat dough, pizza dough, leftover spaetzle...) in the dishwasher or sink.
  It is better to simply wipe the dishes with some kitchen paper or old newspaper. This can then be disposed of in the organic waste. Reason: All flour products stick like a pig, even in the sewage pipes. There they dissolve poorly or not at all and gradually clog up your sewage system.