Salt Rising Bread

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.

This recipe was so much faster and better than the one I have. The results were great. I made it exactly as the recipe stated but used the back of the coal stove to keep it warm. Great flavor. This is one recipe I'll keep making..Thanks for sharing

This bread is ideal for toasting. It is fun to make and is something different. I have noticed that the flavor turns out different with different brands of corn meal. The first few batches were so strong smelling that I had to cut the sponge with extra water and flour to tone it down. With the corn meal that I have now, though, the flavor is spot-on and it is just perfect. I just wish I could remember which brand I bought. To make the starter, I heated the milk to about 110F or so, and put it in a glass jar with a loose fitting lid. I then warmed my oven (which has a pizza stone on the bottom) using only the light and a drug-store heating pad set on high as heat sources. This combination kept the oven interior at an even 104F. The starter was perfect and the resulting loaves rose within a few hours.

I need some help. I tried to make the starter for the Salt Rising Bread using germ-in corn meal and our old Rival crock pot. Using a fluid thermometer I had from my home-brewed beer making days I kept track of the temp. It was steady at about 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Too hot evidently. No foam within 48 hours. Questions: How long should you cook the cornmeal, sugar, salt and milk combination. Mine was warm - not boiling. The sugar and salt dissolved. The corn meal didn't appear to change. Although I used a glass jar with a rubber ring and clamp down top, I didn't clamp the lid down. Should it be tightly covered or not covered at all? I gave up after 48 hours but how long can you keep going without needing a fresh batch of starter? Last question (for now). My oven's lowest temp is 170 degrees and my toaster's is 150. The crock pot on "Low" is 125 F (50 C) and not adjustable. We live in an all-electric home. No gas or propane. Our electric furnace/heat pump does not lend itself to this project. We don't own an electric skillet. We have a waffle maker?? What could I buy or use to maintain 100 degrees? Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to consider my plight. I really appreciate it! Let me hear from you. BFCore

My father has Alzheimer's and he was asking for this over and over again. Thank you for helping me find what he was looking for! He LOVED it, and I didn't think it was horrible to make. It was actually a nice challenge and I kind of became obsessed with it ;) It is delicious toasted with butter! Again, thanks!

This is a great recipe! Works everytime. Makes wonderful toast!

Made this bread yesterday - was prompted by my Mother who was talking about my grandmother liking it so well. It was time consuming but turned out great! I used a small crock pot and put the starter in a pint mason jar and used the warm setting. For the next addition I was able to use a 2 quart mason jar. This step bubbled like mad and kept overflowing the jar! I used a large roasting pan with hot water in the stove for rising the bread in the pans. I only had one bread loaf pan so I used a small cast iron skillet for one loaf and a cake pan for the other- worked just fine! I did not need the entire baking time though (my oven gets pretty hot) did the 10 min. at 375 and then only 9 min at 350.

This recipe is the best! I have made salt rising bread for years using a potato/water mixture as a starter but the cornmeal/milk is much better. I use melted butter not shortening. On the second recipe I increased it by half with the same excellent results. I have a 100 deg proof setting on my oven that makes this bread easier.

Many years ago (30+) I remember our bakers orders "salt rising yeast" from the yeast man. It made a delicious yet very "stinky" loaf of bread. I tired this recipe and was excellent! It brought back memories and though it was "stinky", when I toasted it and put butter on it, I was in heaven! Thank You for this great recipe.

I had great success on my second attempt with this recipe. Bob's Red Mill cornmeal works wonderfully. I used it both times, but the first time I used tap water in the second step. When the resulting sponge failed to ferment, I wondered if the chlorine in the tap water killed the bacteria. So I switched to bottled purified water, and everything went smoothly. If you are having trouble, you might want to try unchlorinated water.

I have yet to try this recipe but cannot wait! My Dad's sister, Aunt Mary used to make Salt Rising Bread & as kids, we loved it. Guessing it was probably passed down from my Grama. So happy that I finally have a recipe to try it out. Thanks, Vicki Guess I should have read how much work is involved...my Aunt was a farmers wife with plenty of work to do & heaven only knows how she found the time for this...but I will try it anyway

first time I made this and it turned out great. Second time , not so great, don't know what happened.

Why is this so addicting? I think I would be thinner if it weren't! Even though we call it 'gangrene bread'...... Success is more consistent with 1) warmer rising temperature for starter, sponge and loaves, 100-110F. I have a yogurt maker that is perfect for the starter/sponge stage. Keep things nice and warm, or the bacteria will die, and the bread won't rise 2) add 1 teaspoon of dry gluten at the sponge stage, helps the rise and the finished product. 3)when the loaves are shaped, coat tops generously with butter or shortening ( I just let my hands melt it, don't go to the trouble of melting seperately), cover with a damp towel, and keep a bowl of hot water in the oven or proofer, keep the temp. at 100-110 consistently. The dough rises aggresively if you keep it warm and damp, keep an eye on it or it will jump out of the pans! 350o is better bake temp for my oven, otherwise too dry. This is a good recipe, I find the tweaks have eliminated failure THUS far.

I wanted to make this bread to use as an ingredient in my Thanksgiving dressing like my grandmother and mother used to make. This recipe turned out great!!

Great recipe. I had been looking for years for a salt rising bread recipe that turned out. My grandmother used to make this and there is no better bread than salt rising for making toast for breakfast. Thank you so much for submitting this.

I've never had salt rising bread before, so I didn't know what to expect. This is really good!

I wanted to make this bread to use as an ingredient in my Thanksgiving dressing like my grandmother and mother used to make. This recipe turned out great!!

I don't remember this bread growing up the last 62 yrs & I love the sharp (kinda Swiss-Parmeson)taste. Makes the most awesome buttered toast. I really love it with sandwiches lightly toasted & incredible with s/w's that use a tangy cheese like alpine Swiss or aged Swiss or other pungent cheeses. Am making it (3 loaves) right now but one loaf has 2 tsps of Italian seasonings. BTW, when working with the dough (it's sticky) I sprayed my hands with Pam which helped tremendously! Anyone else tried other spices/herbs they could share? I love this bread. I started out looking for a yeast free bread as my grandson is allergic to any molds or fermented products & this is it!