Recipe - Persistent Gert

1 pack Active dry yeast
1 One half cup All purpose flour
One half cup Whole wheat flour
2 teaspoon Honey
2 cup Warm water (90 Degrees F.)

(by Richard Blunt, in Backwoods Home magazine)

1. Combine all ingredients in a large glass, ceramic, or stainless steel
bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm
spot for 3 to 5 days. We're using plastic wrap here, instead of
cheesecloth, because we're ensuring that no wild yeasts get into the
starter. Each day stir the mixture down. When it's bubbly and smells sour,
it's ready to use.

(Richard continues: "This starter is boosted by prepared dry yeast. It's
both dependable and easy to work with. You can hear it fermenting clear
across the kitchen during the first two days of chemical change. Then it
falls silent. This is enough to make you think that there is no life left
in it. But take my word for it, this starter and the person it is named for
have life and energy that will be with us for a long time).

Maria: this works in bread machines quite well...and in my wood stove.
Persistent Gert has been one of the happier Sourdough starters in my
kitchen and has failed me only once when the kitchen was so cold, the
thermometer read minus 20.

Posted to EATL Digest 20 Feb 97 by "Maria A. Ladd"
decolores.studio@JUNO.COM on Feb 20, 1997.