My Breads Story and Using my Homemade Fermentation Starter

I started making breads and pies at the age of 15. This is after growing up in a home where pies and yeast breads were bought premade and biscuits, pancakes, and cornbread were made out of a box.

I had decided at that young age that I was going to learn how to make such things from scratch and it grew from there. Actually, the very first thing I ever made from scratch was cornbread at the age of nine with absolutely no adult guidance. I was simply in the mood for corn bread and mom was at work. So I pulled out the cornmeal (which thinking back, is rather surprising that we had that and not just the boxed cornbread mix), and I went to work. I was so very proud of myself and it was the best tasting cornbread I had ever had - most certainly because I had made it myself.

At 15 was when I got into making my own pies and biscuits and for some reason these things clicked with me right from the beginning. Many were surprised such a young girl could make such a flaky pie crust right from the start. The very next year after that was when I started teaching myself how to make yeast breads and as with the other things, it clicked for me right away.

raspberry turnovers - Mr. Rain's favorite

I have made all kinds of breads in my life including soft pretzels, pizza crust, doughnuts, and several types of sour dough (sourdough pancakes, hamburger buns, loaf bread, and more). Now that we have cut way back on our bread consumption, sourdough is something that is more of a hassle as I do not want to keep feeding it and caring for it in the long stretches between bread making.

my homemade doughnuts - which I have not made in years because you cannot eat just one !

As such, it has been important to me to come up with another healthy way to make a yeast bread without the need for store bought yeast both for the sake of self sufficiency and for making a healthier bread.

the tiny loaf of experimental bread

Which brings me to my experiment using my own homemade fermentation starter that I use for making natural sodas, kimchi and other fermented fruits and vegetables, and at one time even used for making honey wine (also known as Mead).

I had tried it a few years ago and the results were just so-so. I set the idea aside for awhile but recently decided it was time to try again. My first try was with pancakes and they turned out pretty good. I also tried it with biscuits, though not traditionally a yeast bread, and the results were not so great, but at least edible. The other day, I took the plunge and tried it again for a standard loaf bread but only made a tiny loaf. I was very pleased with the results, good taste and texture and Mr. Rain and I ate it right up. I found that it was actually the perfect size loaf for the two of us for enjoying fresh from the oven so I will likely continue making them that small.

Now, in the experimental batch, I used store bought organic white flour so in case it did not turn out, I was not wasting the good, whole wheat hand milled flour that takes me time and effort to grind. I will be starting another batch today using the hand milled flour and praying for good results. It is important for me to find the healthiest, most frugal, and most self-sufficient way I can to make our own breads.

I will keep you all updated as I go along this journey and if you are interested in my homemade fermentation starter, I have a video right here on how I make it. I am planning on doing a step by step how-to blog post for steemit in the very near future as well so if you prefer that over video, be watching for it within the next month at most:

Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day! ~Heidi

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