running out of yeast?

[mogal]

I found the following recipe years ago (at least 30!) and thought it might be appropriate to share now that I'm hearing reports of yeast being in short supply in stores.  DISCLAIMER: When I used this, I never was able to keep it from going sour but even then the bread was good.



Perpetual Sweet Starter—Not sourdough


Starter
    2 c. warm water

    2 c. unbleached plain flour

    2/3 c. sugar

    1 T. active dry yeast


Stir well. Cover and let rise until double, 1-2 hrs. * Stir down and add

    3 c. warm water

    3 c. unbleached flour

Beat well. Cover and let rise again until doubled. Stir down and remove 3 c. for starter for the next batch. Refrigerate.


Bread:

    2 t. salt

    2 T. oil (not enough, experiment)

    1 c. flour

Vary first cup of flour—rye, buckwheat, cornmeal. Beat well.


    3-4 unbleached flour

Add remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth. Cover and let rest 20 minutes. Knead 2-3 times to remove air. Divide in half and shape. Place in 2 well-greased 9”x 5” loaf pans. Brush tops with


    1 beaten egg


Slash tops of loaves with sharp knife. Bread rises quite a bit in oven (“oven spring”) and slashing the tops prevents a misshapen loaf.

Bake at 375o for 40-45 min. Yield: 2 loaves



Each baking, bring the starter to room temperature. Start at * and repeat above.

[snoozy]

So how much starter are you using each time per loaf?

[mogal]

Well, you start with 2 c. each flour and water, then after that rises and you stir it down again, you add 3 more cups of water/flour. You remove 3 c. for the next batch and use the rest for your bread. I've never measured exactly how much is left but I'd say around 2-2 1/2 c. per baking session. Good luck.

[snoozy]

And it's not sourdough? I may give it a try. I'd hate for it to fail though and I'd wasted the flour...

[mogal]

I could never keep it from eventually becoming sour but if you manage it as directed, it should stay "sweet" for a while.
I understand not wanting to waste the flour. If it does seem like it's not going to rise, you can mix a little yeast, water and flour then knead it into the dough, even after it's been in the pans for a while.

[feather]

There is no reason this won't work, to proliferate the yeast keeping it at a good warm not hot temperature to grow more little yeasties, then to refrigerate them stops them and they go dormant. They stay dormant until they receive more warmth and fuel and then begin to grow more of themselves.

People that make beer do similar things to increase the yeast. People that make cheese do this for their cultures. Buttermilk, similar methods. Vegetable fermentation using whey or previous liquid from batches for pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi.

mogal, thanks for the recipe.