Homely Scientist

We spend a lot of time in our homes trying to wipe out bacteria and other wee beasties, but you know you can enslave them for your own ends! (voo haa haa haa)

From Ethics and Science talks about making kefir (which is like yogurt),  I thought hey, not kefir is pretty exotic for most folks but how about just plain old yogurt and sourdough bread!  Both are super, super easy to make.

Yogurt is very easy.  The steps are pretty much, boil milk (whole is best), pour into clean (super duper clean) jars, put in some active culture yogurt, cover, and put in a cooler to stew for a few hours).  That’s it.  Believe me it is a fun thing to do and doesn’t take much work at all.  I’ve done it several time.  I found a basic recipe here (if any of you know a better one, let me know).

Now sourdough bread.  Ah a classic.  Sourdough is a culture of fermented flour, water, yeast, and sugar that serves as a power starter for bread.  Sourdough starter is a living thing and there are still cultures going from the 1849 gold rush in San Francisco (where sourdough is an art).  The trick is to keep feeding the starter to let it last.  I know people who give starter as a housewarming gift.  If done right having a starter in your fridge for years if not decades is no problem.  Where to start?  Come on, gotta go with SanFran …  The Exploratorium.  Which, btw, is a kick butt museum.  If Lorraine and I get to SanFran, especially if my kids are in tow, I don’t care how great the conference is … I’m going!

Tags: kefir, yogurt, yogurt recipes, yogurt at home, sourdough, sourdough recipes, sourdough at home, recipes

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