This recipe is not mine, but I thought it would be of interest to your readers especially in a time when yeast is not readily available.
Ingredients:
- 1 ounce hops (seed hops are available online)
- 8 ounces flour
- 4 ounces white sugar
- 1 quart potatoes, mashed
- 3 ounces salt
- 3 quarts cold water
Directions:
- Simmer the hops and water together until the water is reduced to 2 quarts and 1 pint.
- Strain and divide the liquor, placing one half in a vessel with the flour, sugar and salt, and half in another vessel containing the mashed potatoes.
- Heat each portion twenty minutes, then stir all together, and put away to ferment.
- Shake it frequently. It will be ready for use in twenty four hours. Two tablespoons or half a gill will be sufficient for a quart of flour.
– from “The Little Gem Cookbook” 1882
o o o
Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:
Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
Does this need to be stored in the refrigerator or can it be left on the counter, like sour dough starter?
Also how long will it last? I’m alone and won’t be baking much although I will bake bread.
Cap, I’m not sure anybody will be able to answer your question about how long it will last, since the author just found it (hasn’t used it). I’d treat it like any other “starter” to experiment – keep it about room temperature and feed it with some more carbs (flour, potatoes, or both) every week. If it doesn’t “work” (i.e., show gas development, rising, etc.), I’d consider it dead and start again. If it stay’s live, it could last for years with maintenance like sourdough starter – google how to maintain them.
This recipe is awesome, thank goodness these books are still around.
I wonder if I can use my hops I’m growing ? Time to dry them is near.
Does anybody understand what the hops add to this recipe? I’m not getting it.
Can these specific hops also be used to make home brewed beer? I’m interested in utilizing this but i have a rule that everything i use for prepping has to have at least 2 or more different uses (Helps cut down on unecessary clutter)
This is interesting. I am assuming (I could be totally wrong) that the hops are used in a similar way that grape leaves are. They capture the wild yeast in the air, on their leaves. However, I would also think that boiling the mixture would kill the natural wild yeast, so I wonder how it works.