Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Before commercially produced baker’s yeast became widely available, British bakers often relied on something called barm, the yeast rich froth collected from fermenting ale, to make their bread rise.

And in 1468, the stuff was apparently valuable enough to cause a dispute over its price in Norwich!

In today's Strange Crumbs, we're looking at the historical relationship between brewing and baking, the science of fermentation, and what all of this has to do with modern sourdough.

Quite fascinating how much our ancestors understood about making bread rise, long before they knew what yeast actually was/

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Baking Perfect wherever you get your podcasts.

#strangecrumbs #bakingperfect #foodhistory #bakinghistory #breadmaking #fermentation #sourdough

A recipe for beer barm - https://myloveofbaking.com/recipes/beer-barm

SHOW NOTES

❤️ A little about Baking Perfect

Baking Perfect is a Brown Butter Bakes podcast hosted by Ruby, a home baker and bakery owner based in Yorkshire, England.

From baking science and recipe development to the darker corners of culinary history, starting and running a home bakery, and all the wonderfully messy bits in between, Baking Perfect explores food from every angle, one curious story at a time.

Because I don’t believe there’s such a thing as the perfect baker, the perfect recipe or the perfect business. But I do think there’s an awful lot of joy to be found in trying to get better.

🍪 Find Brown Butter Bakes

Website & bakery shop:

https://www.brownbutterbakes.uk

Shop my postal bakes, home bakery business tools, digital guides and resources. The bakery restocks every Sunday at 10am!

Substack — Brown Butter Bakes:

https://brownbutterbakes.substack.com

Instagram — @brownbutterbake:

https://www.instagram.com/brownbutterbake/

Bakery life, recipes, new bakes and behind-the-scenes updates.

TikTok — @brownbutterbakesleeds:

https://www.tiktok.com/@brownbutterbakesleeds

YouTube — Brown Butter Bakes

Podcast — Baking Perfect:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/baking-perfect-a-brown-butter-bakes-podcast/id6820645425

⸻

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider following the podcast, leaving a rating or sharing it with another curious baker. It helps more people find our little corner of the baking world.

And if you’ve got a baking science question you’d love me to investigate, come and say hello over on Instagram or TikTok.

Thanks so much for listening, angel.

Love, Ruby x