Why it works: Potato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Perpetual Yeast
4 small loaves of breadIngredients
Directions
Make the starter
Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup of lukewarm potato water.
Fill a quart glass can half full with lukewarm potato water.
Add ½ cup of granulated sugar to the can and stir until dissolved.
Add the dissolved yeast to the can and stir well.
Set the can in a moderately warm place and let it stand until very light.
Seal the can.
Feed and use
The day before you want to make bread, fill the can full of lukewarm potato water and add another ½ cup of sugar.
Let it stand for about 24 hours.
Beat the foaming yeast and use 1 pint for 4 small loaves of bread.
Use as much lukewarm water as yeast and mix the bread at once, kneading thoroughly.
Seal the can and set it away.
The day before you need it again, fill the can with lukewarm water from boiled potatoes and add ½ cup of sugar.
Use as before.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Potato + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugar, producing gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Granulated sugar
- Feeds the yeast so it stays active and foams during the starter's standing time.
- Potato water
- Provides liquid and nutrients that keep the yeast culture active and moist.
The step that matters
Letting the starter stand until very light. The yeast needs time in a moderately warm place to multiply and foam. Underdeveloped starter gives weak rising, while the sugar feeding must be fresh each cycle to keep the culture vigorous.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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