I was intrigued by a reference to ‘salt-rising bread’ in The Manual of Home-making, (1919) by a
trio of American experts, Martha van
Rensselear, Flora Rose, and Helen Canon. This is what they have to say on the
topic.
SALT-RISING BREAD.
An old
fashioned bread, the making of which is almost a lost art today, is called
salt-rising bread. No yeast is used. Gas from a certain type of bacteria found
in cornmeal is the leavening agent. Dough made from freshly ground cornmeal
rises much more rapidly than that from old cornmeal; in fact, failure generally
results unless fresh cornmeal is used.
The bread is
handled in the same way as yeast-raised bread, except that the entire process
can be carried on at a somewhat higher temperature than is possible with yeast
bread.
The odor of
salt-rising bread during fermentation and proofing is characteristic. No other
dough is like it.
Salt-rising
bread is finer in texture than yeast bread, and some persons believe it is more
easily digested.
Recipe for salt-rising
bread (3 loaves)
(1) In the evening
make a mush of 2 tablespoons of cornmeal and about ½ cup of scalded milk. Keep
it in a warm place overnight.
(2) In the morning
mix together 1 cup lukewarm water, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon soda, 1 ½ cups
flour, cornmeal mush.
(3) Cover the
mixture, and place the dish in warm water until the mixture is light.
(4) To 2 cups
lukewarmwater add 2 teaspoons of salt and 3 cups of flour. Add to this the
cornmeal leavening mixture. Allow the mixture to rise until it is light. Then
add sufficient flour to make a dough. Knead it until it is smooth, make it into
loaves, place in tins, and allow it to rise until it is double in bulk. Bake it
according to the general directions.
There are
variations on this theme in other books; some use all wheat flour, some use
boiling water, some have other minor variations, but they all include the first
step of making a batter or wet dough and leaving it to its own devices
overnight. No baker’s yeast is added to the dough, that is true enough, but the
bread is not yeastless, it is leavened by the action of natural yeasts and
bacteria which have been happily cultivated in the warmth of the kitchen.
I have two
questions of you. Is the making of this bread really a lost art? And why is it
called salt-raised?
Quotation for the Day.
Of all smells, bread; of all tastes salt.
George Herbert
28 comments:
Janet,
I suppose it is called "salt rising" because the primary leaven, Sodium bicarbonate, is a salt. (I can hear you smacking your forehead from 10k miles away :-)
Smack! Smack! Smack!
My excuse for the day is that the gravitational pull from the approaching asteroid is scrambling my brain.
I was just looking at the recipe for salt-risen bread in Beard on Bread today and thinking of trying it. Strange, eh?
Beard does warn that the recipe fails as often as it succeeds owing to conditions, but I'm still curious to try it.
Sodium bicarb would provide some leavening but I used to add salt to bacterial cultures in order to selectively cultivate enteric bacteria over gram positive bacteria usually found on the skin. The salt and sodium in the bicarbonate might be used to inhibit less flavorful strains of bacteria present in the cornmeal mush starter.
The story I have been told about salt rising bread is that the starter--the cornmeal and hot milk mixture in a container, was buried in warm rock salt (halite).
It is a fairly lost bread, because it is not predictable. I love it, because of its cheesy flavour, but it does not rise predictably. Sometimes I have great success, and sometimes, I do not. Same kitchen, same utensils, same brands of ingredients, same starting with very clean utensils........
Lawrence in Ohio.
A question about the "scalded milk". I checked in my beloved dictionary and it said that it's "heated without allowing it to reach boiling point". Great. So, my question is, will it work with UHT milk or should I rather use 'fresh' milk? Oh, how I love a challenge...
Interesting to see your article about Salt Rising Bread. I'm glad you wrote about it. I have been involved in preserving this beloved bread for several years. You may enjoy visiting my website that is all about Salt Rising Bread
http://home.comcast.net/~petsonk/
You might also like to read an article published last week in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette about Rising Creek Bakery, where my friend and I bake Salt Rising Bread and ship it all over the country.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11307/1186912-34.stm
Susan Brown
Here is an article posted in today's Lexington Herald-Leader about the state of salt-rising bread in Central Kentucky (USA).
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/11/10/1952795/salt-rising-bread-is-still-baked.html
It has a recipe that uses sliced potato in addition to the cornmeal. It sounds like a wild yeast trap to me!
I have never tackled this style of bread. My assumption is that the bicarb and the acidity of the starter work with the wild yeast.
Foodie. Salt rising bread was still sold in my town as late as the early sixties in Mom Pop bakeries. This is an absolutley delicious bread that tastes of cheese. For more information check Youtube Salt rising bread by Jenny Bardswell and Susan Brown.
The Uncle Paedrus blog has a good discussion on salt rising bread.
Anon says it is not predictable and failures occur. Above mentioned sites explain this.
Type of cornmeal used is important. And potatoes are also used.
Love your site and visit regularly.
Question? Have you written of Innards Stew or Haslet?
Thanks everyone: I am delighted that salt-rising bread has not disappeared - and that in fact it seems to be undergoing a revival (thanks Rising Creek Bakery).
I love that the name seems to come from the use of a bed of hot rock salt to keep the mix warm.
Anonymous: I have done a post on haslet - see it at http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2008/05/pepys-porke.html
I first read about this in "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I've no clue if those books are common outside of the US, but they are a fascinating portrait of pioneer life from the perspective of a young girl who lived it.
In the Little House Cookbook, the recipe for salt-rising bread suggests using a thermos to create the ferment. If you're interested, I'll copy out the recipe from the book for you. There's also a recipe for Swedish crackers that uses "baker's ammonia".
In Mid Atlantic USA you can sometimes find this bread in Amish markets.
I attempted my first salt rising loaf. The starter failed. I used three year old cornmeal from the pantry and now understand that new cornmeal is needed so thanks for that bit of info. ALSO... I used skim, (fat free), milk. I don't imagen the pioneer women had skim milk. QUESTION... Do I have to use high fat milk to succeed in producing the starter? Thanks to All!
Hi Anonymous. Thanks for letting us know about your experiment. I would think pioneer women did use skim milk - they would have used the cream for butter or other dishes. I dont think it matters what sort of milk you use for the starter, but will be interested in any other readers' comments.
Thank you for your article on salt rising bread. In the 80's I worked for an old German baker who made the best salt rising bread I have ever tasted. Unfortunately he never shared the recipe, not even with his wife, and he died taking it with him to the grave. I have longed to have some of this amazing bread. Definitely will give your recipe a try and hope for the best. Cheers!
Hello beautifulone62: thankyou for sharing that memoir. i have never understood the extreme protectiveness of some folk for their recipes: everyone has their own techniques - and method is as important as an ingredient list, so food -especially such as bread - turn out differently under different hands. I can understand it if it is a commercial product, but not a home-made recipe.
I hope your experiment works out well - it will no doubt be different, but it will be uniquely yours!
Going to attempt your recipe. My grandmother made this for us once in a while and I have tried her recipe once. Hard to understand many of her instructions and turned out to be very short bread : )
With the wonder of the internet and all of your helpful hints I will attempt again for my Aunt's bday. Read the instructions for my oven and found the instructions on how to set for "Proofing" bread. Wish me luck!!
Let us know how it turns out, Jacqueline!
The bakery at Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio (north side of Cincinnati) almost always has fresh salt rising bread on hand. People come from miles around to stock up.
I have a recipe that has yeast in the starter, that I'm trying this evening, and with any luck I will wake up to the stink in the morning! I've tried unsuccessfully to make this for years with the cornmeal starter method. I did find that you can buy salt rising yeast from king Arthur flour, which is the closest I've ever come to success! I have very fond memories of this bread which we had when we visited my grandparents. My Mom told me the bakery that made it used a lightbulb in a bucket to keep the starter warm...
I made it last week and it came out perfect. I was worried since we are having such a cold winter. I kept it in the oven and the foam was perfect. I love the smelly bread. Best toast!
Our local bakery in Greeneville, TN, which is called Peggy Ann's, still makes salt rising bread regularly. They have a good business of shipping it out, apparently, as well.
My parents served SALT rising bread often, and we loved it, now I'm telling you that the KERNS BAKERY absolutely made the very best and as MOM made toast for us on the morning, that cheesy smell from the bread cooking was heavenly. I was was told that when KERNS BAKERY sold out years and years ago, they did not sell or release the recipe, sad what a disservice, I'll continue to search for the best, I will contact Peggy Ann's in TN and have some shipped out, I've tried several out of state bakeries, to date, they haven't compared to Ketns bakery
I totally agree with Teresa!!! Kerns Bakery's salt rising bread was absolutely the best ever. When I was growing up in Southeastern WV, Kerns Salt Rising Bread could be found in most any grocery store, but then it disappeared. I have tried to track down something to replace it without success. It is my understanding that Food City out of Bristol, TN bought the bakery and produced the bread for a time. Last year I made the trip to Bristol to visit Food City, but to my dismay, they no longer produced it. THE RECIPE HAS TO BE OUT THERE SOMEWHERE!!!
Today bought my first loaf of salt rising bread in years. Finally found a bakery that has it. Sad to say I'm disappointed, nothing like it was as I had in the past. I want to try baking my own, but not sure about the corn meal. I don't know where to get fresh.Any ideas?
My late father used to work at a large local bakery. He would make and bring home this bread. HIS had the most wonderfully intense flavor that I have ever had. He passed before I had the opportunity to learn HIS recipe. BUT I do remember one thing that he said. always set aside some of the sponge to add to the sponge in the next batch. THIS was his key to 2 things.
1. If you have an active sponge you have the live bacteria to help the next batch get started, increasing the reliability of it working.
2. It helps to give it a more intense flavor.
So the next batch I will try what he said. I hope that I am right about this and maybe a more experienced baker will have insight on this.
Post a Comment