Old tech bread

[Strelets]

Mesophilic, if you want to start completely from scratch then I agree with Del, cider is the way to go. If the apples are crushed and pressed then the unsterilized juice will begin to ferment without any added yeast. If you have quit drinking you could probably get a friend to do you a favour by drinking the cider for you.

If this is a "completely from scratch" project are you going to grow the wheat or rye and stone grind it? I recently visited the Ancient Technology Centre in Dorset with my son and a party of kids from his school. We tried our hand at grinding wheat in a stone quern and baked the flour into unleavened bread. It was a lot of hard work for a very small amount of unappetising flat bread. It made me wonder why they ever gave up the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, living off salmon, venison and oysters, for the drudgery of farming.

I tried to insert a link, but it doesn't seem to work. Here is the URL:-
https://ancienttechnologycentre.com

[Mesophilic]

If this is a "completely from scratch" project are you going to grow the wheat or rye and stone grind it?

If I had the space I'd probably give it a shot just for kicks and to teach my kid how hard life was before all this modern technology.   

Thsnks for the cider tip.  Next year when the apples come off I'll give it a shot.

[M2A]

Cool thread, interesting topic. From what I know most/all apples will have natural yeasts on the skins while McIntosh varieties seem to carry more so some of the old timers I use to know would make sure they had of those in the mix when starting their "hard juice". For what its worth, the crab apples are still hanging tight here in Penna and can still find some wild grape still on the vine, I bet either of those would have some yeast still on the skins
Look forward to see what you come up with.
Mike       

[DC]

I was just watching Alton Brown's "Good Eats, the Return". An episode called "Wild Yeast Risin' ".  He goes through making a wild yeast starter. You may be able to find it online although it's a new series. He just mixed water and flour and immediately covered it with a towel. Then he left it for a day or so. Then he started feeding it. He said that he had to feed it for four or five before it started rising fast enough to use for baking. Don't know if this helps.

[DC]

I was just watching Alton Brown's "Good Eats, the Return". An episode called "Wild Yeast Risin' ".  He goes through making a wild yeast starter. You may be able to find it online although it's a new series. He just mixed water and flour and immediately covered it with a towel. Then he left it for a day or so. Then he started feeding it. He said that he had to feed it for four or five before it started rising fast enough to use for baking. Don't know if this helps.

PS here's a link to his starter recipe. I dropped the "H"
ttps://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/wild-sourdough-starter-7480403

[Mesophilic]

Thanks,  DC, great find.  He listed the process on that link as well:

Directions
Special equipment: scale with tare function; quart-sized, wide-mouthed glass jars with lids

To begin: Mix together 125 grams flour and 125 grams water with a clean hand in a medium glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let sit undisturbed at room temperature until the mixture is full of bubbles and has nearly doubled in size, usually 2 to 3 days. During this time, yeasts and bacteria from the air and from the flour and probably from you will set up housekeeping in the bowl (see Cook's Note).

For daily feeding: Peel back any crust that may have formed and transfer 20% of the culture (50 grams) to a clean, wide-mouthed jar. Stir in 100 grams flour and 100 grams water, loosely screw on the lid and stash at room temperature for 24 hours. (The culture will have a stinky-sour smell at this point.) Discard the rest of the original mixture.

Repeat step 2 every 24 hours for 5 days. By then the culture should smell yeasty-sweet-sour, which means you're ready to put the starter to work.

Cook’s Note
If your culture isn't showing signs of life after 3 days, go ahead and start feeding. If, after a few more days, nothing happens, start over and place the culture in a different part of your home.

[DC]

Let us know if it works

[bowtarist]

When I was on the road in the late 80s early 90s, I would boil a potato then mash it and add flour and a pinch of sugar. If it was summertime, it would be bubbly and sticky by morning. I’d then add flour and some water to make a dough and make a loaf of bread. It would rise like crazy, sometimes spilling out of the bowl if I left it too long. I always wanted to try to keep part of the original mixture and feed it like a starter, but like I said, I was on the road and packing light. The loaf always tasted great. Thanks for the memory. I’m gonna have to find my old journal and look up any details I may have forgotten and give that another try sometime.
Seems like you could get started with just one apple and not have to make a whole batch of cider, like I started with one potato and didn’t make a batch of vodka. Lol

[Hawkdancer]

When I was on the road in the late 80s early 90s, I would boil a potato then mash it and add flour and a pinch of sugar. If it was summertime, it would be bubbly and sticky by morning. I’d then add flour and some water to make a dough and make a loaf of bread. It would rise like crazy, sometimes spilling out of the bowl if I left it too long. I always wanted to try to keep part of the original mixture and feed it like a starter, but like I said, I was on the road and packing light. The loaf always tasted great. Thanks for the memory. I’m gonna have to find my old journal and look up any details I may have forgotten and give that another try sometime.
Seems like you could get started with just one apple and not have to make a whole batch of cider, like I started with one potato and didn’t make a batch of vodka. Lol

Be real glad to read the journal