HERMIT BEER STARTER – Story & Recipe
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, pp. 102-103).
HERMIT – Herman’s Little Brother
Hermit is a batter that does not have to be fed like his big brother, Herman, and he does not have to be replaced until the very last cup of it remains from the original batch. Hermit also keeps at room temperature and is ready in 24 hours. He makes a lighter dessert type bread and a sweeter coffeecake.
The secret ingredient in Hermit’s characteristics is beer! Because the original Herman must “sour” like a true sourdough starter, during a 10-day period, having then a strong aroma similar to alcohol, I decided to incorporate the alcohol into the Hermit right away. We do not have to remember to replace anything we remove with this version.
The only rule to remember when you use him – or when you give him away by the cupful – is that, when you are down to one remaining cup of the batter, as in the initial gift/cupful, you must make a new batch and add the last cupful, from the [previous] first batch, to it. Then let it stand, loosely covered, in a 4-quart container for 24 hours.
He will bubble up dramatically during that time, which is why I place my container inside a slightly larger, glass dish, catching any overflow, and later scraping it back into the original mixture. DO NOT USE METAL containers, nor metal mixing utensils with… starters.
Use glass or plastic or rubber or wooden items. Metal causes an unhappy retardation of the rising properties within the mixture and acts like an incubator to the yeast cultures that are supposed to bubble and grow from the wild yeast particles in the air.
Of course, we can’t see those little devils but they’re there, nonetheless, and the sourdough batter, loosely covered just to keep out dust, will attract the wild yeast from the air, given a chance to ‘work’ and ferment for a while.
You should, during the 24-hour fermenting period, remember to occasionally stir Hermit a few times to keep the mixture properly dissolved, as there is a good deal of sugar in the mixture. Don’t begrudge a cup of it, either, for this is what gives the alcohol its unusual and mysterious rising properties.
If alcohol offends you, then yeast will offend you, as well as any bread prepared with yeast; for the alcohol that forms in the reaction of yeast with sugar and warm water, plus grain mixtures, such as flour, is what makes the bread light, airy, soft and rich, as compared to the soda cracker it would otherwise become, without the alcoholic properties of yeast.
INGREDIENTS:
12-oz can of beer
¼ cup warm water
2 pkgs dry yeast
1 TB sugar
3 cups each: water, sugar, and flour
3.2-oz pkg. dry milk powder (1 cup)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Open the beer and let it go flat at room temperature for 2 hours. Then you are ready to make the starter. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together, 2 or 3 times, the [water, yeast, and sugar]. Let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly and thick.
While this stands at room temperature for 5 minutes, beat [the additional water and sugar, flour, and milk powder] with electric mixer, or put through blender, until smooth. Put into 4-qt NON METAL container and stir in the flat beer and yeast mixture.
Stir well. Cover loosely. Place another [wider] container under the starter container, in case of overflow. Stir it down about every hour, for a while. Just before you go to bed, give it a few good stirs and then again first thing in the morning.
Always keep one cupful of this starter to add to your next batch of Hermit, repeating the recipe, as given above. No replacement and no Hermit “food” is necessary. Always include a copy of the above recipe, when you give one cup of it away; with directions that, within 7 days, the above starter must be added to the gift-cup of starter.
No refrigeration is necessary. Hermit keeps well at room temperature up to 6 weeks, without being used. After that, freeze him in 1-cup portions until you do use him, thawing completely before using him in a recipe.
See also…
