|
I became interested in this when my mother in law gave me some starter a few years ago. It made wonderful, sweet bread. Unfortunately, I dropped the remainder of the starter on the floor, so the one batch was all I got.
A year or so later, my grandmother asked me about Fred. Fred? Apparently that's what she and her friends call Friendship Bread (makes sense.) She wanted to know: if you don't have Fred, where do you get Fred? In other words, how do you start the starter? I didn't know, but I did know the Internet, and I found a bazillion variations. This one is the one I use. I gave Gramma instructions on how to make Fred, and now I have my own Fred in a crock.
When you have Fred, you can use him in a million recipes. I have less than a million of them posted on my Amish Friendship Bread Recipes page.
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3 cups sugar
- 3 cups warm milk (also 110 degrees)
Birth of Fred
IMPORTANT! Use only wooden or plastic utensils for stirring Fred. Keep Fred in a plastic, glass
or ceramic container. NO METAL! (It messes up Fred's yeastie beasties.)
Day 1
In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand 10 minutes.
In a 2 quart container or crock, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly to prevent
the flour from lumping up when the milk is added. Slowly stir in the milk and the yeast mixture.
Cover loosely, let stand at room temperature until bubbly. This is considered Day 1.
Days 2-4
Stir starter with a wooden spoon.
Day 5
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir thoroughly with wooden spoon.
Days 6-9
Stir starter with a wooden spoon.
Day 10
Stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Remove whatever quantity you need to make your bread recipe. Reserve 1 cup starter to continue Fred if you want to keep Fred around. Give 3 cups of starter to friends (you should have approximately 6 cups of starter, more or less.)
From this point, you repeat the cycle. Tomorrow will be Day 2 for your reserved Fred starter.
If you want, you can freeze Fred at this point, where it's ready to make bread. Freeze in 1 cup measures in plastic or glass containers, or in baggies. Starter needs to thaw completely to room
temperature before being used in a recipe (about 3 hours.)
Notes and Hints and Stuff
- Is 110 degrees important?
Yes. Use a thermometer if you can. Too hot will kill the yeast, too cold and it won't be active enough.
- Is this hygenic?
Yes. It's okay to leave it out on the counter. Don't put it in the fridge, or it won't work properly. I know it has milk in it. It also has enough sugar and yeast to keep it from spoiling as long as it doesn't get really WARM. It should never smell rancid, though. If it smells yeasty or floury, okay. If at some point it does smell rank or bad, throw it out and start over. Hasn't been a problem for me, but YMMV.
- I don't have a crock
Originally, I got this from my Mother in Law in a gallon ziplock bag. That works too. Start Fred
in the bag, and instead of stirring, just zip it up and squish it around to mix after you add new
ingredients. I intend to keep Fred around for a while, though, so I put him in a decorative
container. Plus it'll scare people looking for the sugar, which is always fun.
- Don't forget instructions!
If you give this starter to people, it's nice to give them the instructions to make their own starter (I didn't get them the first time), and a recipe or two to make with the starter. Your friends should take the starter you've given them and follow the process beginning at Day 2 if they want to make their own to give away, otherwise they can simply use the starter as you've given it to them in their own Amish Bread recipe.
|
