Well, that could've come out better...
Dec. 12th, 2013 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desperanceSo: apparently dried yeast has a half-life, and possibly even an imminent death. Who knew? I use the stuff so seldom, I kind of assumed it just went on for ever.
Okay, lesson learned. My pumpkin bread barely rose at all, until it went in the oven; and then all it got was the oven-spring from the sourdough starter I'd mixed in, which wasn't anywhere near enough to lift it up where it belonged. Tastes fine, but it is kinda dense. I could pretend it's one of those East European pumpernickel-type breads, it's dark enough - but nah. I shall own up to my error, discard the yeast and try again.
(Apparently if you buy dried yeast in a vac-packed block, as I did, it'll keep for ever if you keep it in the freezer; otherwise, even in an airtight container, it loses its potency over time. Damn that time stuff, anyway; I never asked for age...)
Anyway. I am still bearing up my foodie flag. We had salads for lunch - bacon/broccoli and shrimp/avocado - and shortly I am off on a buzz around the South Bay, from Common Ground in Palo Alto (where I shall collect my new long-handled English garden fork, which will not break on me, no) to Dittmer's (where I want to enquire about a fresh ham for brining, and pick up some belly pork for bacon) and the Milk Pail (where I think I may have got my yeast first time around, and there's always the chance of dark chocolate hobnobs for Karen, and and and...).
Okay, lesson learned. My pumpkin bread barely rose at all, until it went in the oven; and then all it got was the oven-spring from the sourdough starter I'd mixed in, which wasn't anywhere near enough to lift it up where it belonged. Tastes fine, but it is kinda dense. I could pretend it's one of those East European pumpernickel-type breads, it's dark enough - but nah. I shall own up to my error, discard the yeast and try again.
(Apparently if you buy dried yeast in a vac-packed block, as I did, it'll keep for ever if you keep it in the freezer; otherwise, even in an airtight container, it loses its potency over time. Damn that time stuff, anyway; I never asked for age...)
Anyway. I am still bearing up my foodie flag. We had salads for lunch - bacon/broccoli and shrimp/avocado - and shortly I am off on a buzz around the South Bay, from Common Ground in Palo Alto (where I shall collect my new long-handled English garden fork, which will not break on me, no) to Dittmer's (where I want to enquire about a fresh ham for brining, and pick up some belly pork for bacon) and the Milk Pail (where I think I may have got my yeast first time around, and there's always the chance of dark chocolate hobnobs for Karen, and and and...).