On Sunday afternoon I made a batch of Lemon Yeast, supposedly Grandma Anderson's recipe. I have since found the exact same recipe, word for word in a 1930's edition WMU cookbook.
The photo below is after 36 hours, no action happening there. It just smelt like floury lemon water. I thought to myself, well the instructions said ready for use after 24 hours, so I gave it a whirl and made quarter of the original recipe. I had my suspicions that nothing would happen and I didn't want to waste so much flour.
After mixing allow to sit for 2 - 3 hours
Then knead for 20 minutes - looks nice and smooth, then allow to rest till well cracked.....?
After 2 hours resting, no cracking, just a well kneaded lump of play dough!
I let it sit overnight and the lump looked exactly the same this morning.
Of course I have to question why it didn't work
The photo below is after 36 hours, no action happening there. It just smelt like floury lemon water. I thought to myself, well the instructions said ready for use after 24 hours, so I gave it a whirl and made quarter of the original recipe. I had my suspicions that nothing would happen and I didn't want to waste so much flour.
After mixing allow to sit for 2 - 3 hours
Then knead for 20 minutes - looks nice and smooth, then allow to rest till well cracked.....?
After 2 hours resting, no cracking, just a well kneaded lump of play dough!
I let it sit overnight and the lump looked exactly the same this morning.
Of course I have to question why it didn't work
- Lack of warmth in my kitchen, I would imagine that most kitchens in the 30's and 40's would have had a wood stove thus keeping the kitchen warm.
- No wild yeast in the ferment, might be best to cover jar with an open weave cloth instead of a lid
- Not using a seasoned jar i.e one that has been used for yeast making before. (I read this in the WMU book)
I wonder if anyone still uses this type of yeast or a potato yeast? Perhaps a sourdough starter is similar to those homemade yeasts used in bygone days.
Oh well, it was a bit of fun, maybe I'll try again when the weather warms up.
Hope you have a lovely day
Cheers
Lisa
Oh well, it was a bit of fun, maybe I'll try again when the weather warms up.
Hope you have a lovely day
Cheers
Lisa
2 comments:
Is there commercial yeast in it? If yout relying on wild yeasts, they can take up to 5 days to develop, a bit like sour dough? I am just guessing here as I have no idea what lemon yeast is..
No commercial yeast in it Wendy. Lemon yeast consists of lemon juice, sugar, flour and water. I'll try again and leave if for a few more days and see what happens.
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