I have been trying to duplicat the salt rising bread my grandmother made back in the 30's for over 25 years. Most tries have been total failures. I tried this recipe yesterday (02/19/00) and the bread was delicious and rose magnificently. I am very happy to have this recipe. It is better than the bread made with King Arthur Salt Rising yeast.
My Mom was born and raised in a Kentucky Ohio river town. She has always loved this bread. We all live in the St. Louis area and cannot find this bread anywhere. She has not had any of this bread for almost 15 years. So I made her 5 loaves for Christmas. She loved it. I did save a loaf for myself. It was not a hard recipe but it does take some time. I recognized the smell during the starter stage. I thank you and my Mother thanks for a great recipe.
I didn't think I would ever find this recipe again. My mother is German and she would make this when I was a child although kids don't usually like it because it's not the normal white bread that they're used to. This is a great recipe for this very "different" kind of bread. Try it you'll like it.
If you had problems with this recipe a likely problem is that you could have used "degerminated" corn meal. That happens to be the only kind sold in my local grocery store so I have to go old school and grind actual dried corn for this.
In the "Southern Tier" of Western New York this bread is available in every little restaurant that serves breakfast. It is offered (almost exclusively) as one of the options for toast. It is wonderful as toast and as grilled sandwich bread. It does have a VERY disSTINKtive aroma but it is WONDERFUL bread. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe!
3rd Update: I finally got this to work. I tried the starter a 3rd time heated my glass jar in the dishwasher then covered it and left jar of starter on my padio in the Texas heat (where else is it a constant 95-110 degrees?). Whew. Made a great loaf of bread (excellent toast as mentioned my other reviewers!) but I am not sure if I will try this again anytime soon...(: Thanks for the post & letting me try somethign different! Update: So far this has not worked for me. I have started the starter (repetative phrase there!) twice. The 2nd time I got a few bubbles but it wasn't enough to continue with making the bread. I will try again at some point right now I am bummed! ): Original review: I have been wanting to try this bread for several years. Made starter 6-16-08 will update and take pics of progress.
I had never made SRB before until I read this recipe. My bread was the best SRB I had ever eaten and I have eaten plenty. Follow the directions and you will have Blue ribbon SRB. I am going to Fl next and have always taken loaves with me from the store but this year its my own.
I followed the recipe to the letter and all went well until time to let the dough rise in the pans ( after kneading). The dough just sat there! nothing ever happened...waited more than 5 hours.
Salt rising bread can be very unpredicatble. As one reviewer reported it never did rise. This is a common problem - one time it comes out beautifully the next it is a total waste. In a spirit similar to making sourdough bread however the successes are so rewarding that the failures are easily overlooked. If you have had a problem with this breead give it another try -- the successful loaf is well worth the effort.
