Historic recipe from Malinda Russell's 1866 cookbook "A Domestic Cook Book". Page 17. One of the earliest known cookbooks by an African American author.
This is a wild yeast starter that relies on naturally occurring bacteria (primarily Clostridium perfringens) and wild yeasts from cornmeal and the environment. The warm temperature (around 100-110°F) creates ideal conditions for these microorganisms to ferment and produce carbon dioxide for leavening. The thin consistency allows the microbes to move freely and multiply, creating a tangy, distinctive starter similar to salt-rising bread cultures that predated commercial yeast.
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Turn boiling water over it
Stir it quite thin
Keep it warm
Set it one morning to bake the next
The bread made the same as salt rising bread, using two or three table spoonfuls of the yeast
Once the starter is active and bubbly (after 12-24 hours of fermentation), it should be used immediately for baking. The starter cannot be held for extended periods without feeding like a sourdough culture, as it relies on a different bacterial ecosystem.
This recipe creates a single-use starter meant to be incorporated entirely into bread dough within 24 hours of activation. It is not designed for long-term storage. If making salt-rising bread with this starter, the finished bread can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
