please???

thanks lynette

Amish Friendship Bread is a type of sourdough bread. Its premise is that small amount wild yeast already present in the flour will feed on the sugars present in the flour, the sugars in the milk, and the sugar itself. The byproducts of which are carbon dioxide bubbles that build up in the bag, and alcohol that ferments.

The yeast forms a symbiotic relationship with lactobacillus, one of the major bacteria responsible for yogurt and cheese. The lactobacillus feeds on the yeasts digestion products creating an acidic environment that only the yeast and lactobacillus can survive. This means that no “bad” bacteria are growing in your bread. Even though it contains unrefrigerated milk, and even though it IS going sour, it is not going “bad”.

Like San Francisco Sourdough, a good starter may have traces of milk, sugar, and flour from a century ago. That age doesn’t effect the “safeness” because of the previously stated symbiotic relationship between the lactobaccilus and the yeast.

Marsha asked about it needing to be “mushed” every day. The idea there is to distribute the growing sybiotic colonies evenly, gather the tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide together into a mass of collected air to be let out, and to mix back in any hooch that may have separated from the batter.

Not mushing the batter for days won’t ruin your bread. Letting it sit undisturbed on your counter every day except feeding day won’t harm it, nor will mailing it. Also, mailing it, it will be handled (the box it is in, actually), which will shake it some.

Not feeding it is worse than not mushing it. If you can’t feed it within a day or so of day 6, it can be placed in the fridge to slow the yeast down.

I’m already in a bread chain, so I’ll not be joining yours, but I hope some of this info helps some people with some of their questions.