Rewena Bread- Any tried and true recipes?

Oh you lucky thing, having yours baking already!

I have mine proofing in the hot water cupboard, so far it doesn't look like its risen at all since 3pm. Lets hope it will have risen overnight, otherwise I will have to start all over again :(

Im starting to wonder if I kneaded it enough, perhaps I needed to knead it more next time.the waiting is killing me lol

Goodluck coyote :) Hope your bread works out. I tried one a few years back ,but it was'nt a success so watching this space to see how you go.

Epic Fail.

I didn't knead the dough enough or add enough flour, it collapsed overnight and turned back to the runny 'bug'. I kneaded it and added enough dough until it was solid and didnt stick to my hands, but obviously it wasn't enough. It went into the bowl as a big round ball of dough, but flattened and spread out into a runny mass overnight.

So, its back to starting the bug again, using less sugar in it and kneading the dough longer.

what a bummer it did'nt work. Good for you to keep trying. I tried one a few years back,it did'nt work either,did'nt go runny but just never expanded.Might give it a go again myself soon. goodluck keep us posted how the next one go's. I wonder if we leave it for a few days and then mix. Do you put a lid on the jar when you make the bug! Cheers and goodluck.

Oh sad to hear about your bread coyoteblonde did you not save some bug from the first bread! Like crystalmoon said keep trying.
I cant understand why your dough went running! It woulnt be cos you had too much sugar or because you didnt knead it enough.
Once bug bubbles than start to your bread.

I saved some dough to use for the next bug, but I thought it didnt work because I added too much sugar to the bug, so should start again from scratch! I put in a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon, think thats why it bubbled so quickly.

It was really weird, like I kneaded my dough into a nice big firm ball, put it in a bowl covered with tea towel, and the next morning, it had turned runny and bubbly like the bug itself! It had a hard crust on top from where it dried out, and underneath it was runny bug mixture. It didn't rise at all.

Yep, I put it in a tall plastic jar with lid, but it grew huge overnight and overflowed, so I had to transfer to a bigger one with lid. Im gonna try again and take pictures along the way so you guys can see where Im going wrong if it happens again lol

wide-mouthed glass jar is best A small crock with a loose lid is also great. A wide-mouthed mayonnaise or pickle jar will also do just fine. Metallic containers are a bad idea; some of them are reactive and can ruin your starter (for the same reason, avoid using metal utensils to stir your starter).

Blend a cup of warm water and a cup of flour, and pour it into the jar. If you want, you can add a little commercial yeast to a starter to "boost" it. But if you are having trouble, go ahead and cheat. Note that starter made with commercial yeast often produces a bread with less distinctive sour flavor than the real thing.

Every 24 Hours, Feed the Starter. You should keep the starter in a warm place; 21-27 degreesis perfect. This allows the yeast already present in the flour (and in the air) to grow rapidly. Temperatures hotter than 36 degrees or so will kill it
The way you feed the starter is to (A) use half of it and then (B) add a half-cup of flour and a half-cup of water. Do this every 24 hours. Within three or four days (it can take longer, a week or more, and it can happen more quickly) you should start getting lots of bubbles throughout, and a pleasant sour or beery smell. The starter may start to puff up, too.

When your starter develops a bubbly froth, it is done.Your starter should be fed daily if left sitting on the counter. Every other week, if refrigerated.Throw away any hardened crust. “Refresh” the remaining piece by mixing it with twice the original amount of flour and enough water to make a firm dough. Set aside as before.

Aside from feeding, the only other thing you need to worry about is hooch. Hooch is a layer of watery liquid (often dark) that contains alchohol. Just pour it off or stir it back in. It doesn't hurt anything. If your starter is looking dry, stir it back in. If your starter is plenty wet, pour it off.If you think that your sourdough is too sour, throw all of it away except 1 cup. Add 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of warm water to it, and let it ferment for a day or so.

If your sourdough starter or hooch starts looking pinkish or orange color, throw it away and start over as this means that something bad or nasty has started

Several hours before you plan to make your dough (recipe below), you need to make a sponge. A "sponge" is just another word for a bowl of warm, fermented batter. This is how you make your sponge.

Take your starter out of the fridge. Pour it into a large glass or plastic bowl.
Add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour to the bowl. Stir well, and set it in a warm place for several hours.Watch for Froth and and Sniff. When your sponge is bubbly and has a white froth, and it smells a little sour, it is ready. The longer you let the sponge sit, the more sour flavor you will get.

Some starters can proof up to frothiness in an hour or two. Some take 6-8 hours, or even longer.

The leftover sponge is your starter for next time: Put it into the jar, and give it a fresh feed of a half-cup each of flour and warm water. Keep it in the fridge as above; you'll have starter again next time.

Not really - what you are doing is making a sourdough starter. it will take quite a while until the bacteria and yeasts are in balance. Until then - use a pinch of bakers yeast in addition to your rewana bug.

You also do not need to feed it all the time - except you are baking daily of course. If you do not want to use it - keep it in the fridge.

Firstly im not too keen on sugar in rewena bread its too sweet if you like it than thats fine but it just dont have the real taste.Why did you leave it in a bowl with a tea towel over it! As soon as your bread is kneaded than put it staight into a kohua (camp over) I use a old crocpot pot works fine than cut a line across it and than put the lid on it keeps the dough moiste and most importantly kepts the air and warmth in.

Just to clarify, Maori bread is made from ground roots of the fern since flour back in the day was considered a luxury therefore rewena bread is just that, rewena bread. It used to rile up the oldies to hear rewena being referred to as Maori bread. Apologies for poking my nose in.

Is that bracken fern you are referring to!
And was that just mashed up raw!
All I have ever found out about that is that people do get stomach cancer over the years if they eat too much of it . do you know more!

You need sugar in the bug, thats the only thing I put the sugar in, not in the dough. All that went into the dough was the bug, flour, warm water and a pinch of salt.

I put it in a bowl with a tea towel over it, waiting for it to double in size so I could re-knead and then bake it. I'll try the crock pot though next time.

You dont need sugar at all even in the bug i never use sugar it taste like a yeast bread.All i use is potatoe juice, warm water and flour (i use use high grade flour and plain flour) Once you have kneaded it you dont have to knead it agian just wait for it to raise until it just about hit the top or 3/4 of the pot.Than pop it into the oven.Depending on how big you pot is cook until its brown.Note i only use the actual pot thingy from the crocpot it has a glass lid so I can pop the whole thing in the oven.Best thing to use is a camp over thou, i pefer the crocpot one cos its smaller and make just enough for my family.

No you don't. I've started one, flour and water, nothing else. It was incredibly easy, just stuck it in the hot water cupbaord and voila, some time later I have foamy yeast.

Since then I've moved it to the top of the fridge (outside the fridge) and it's quite happy, been adding more flour and water as I use it and it continues to be happy.
Tried some bread, worked well.

Hey coyoteblonde how did your next one go! I'm trying to get one started soon,supposed to start the other day,but still hav'nt.Might cook off potato now and mix together before I go to sleep.Wish me luck. Hope you had better success this time.

Hi All,
Started my bug last night,did potato in water,meashed,cooled to luke warm and added the flour and sugar.Have place in hot water cupboard and now patiently waiting.Had a look this morning,nothing. Had another look this afternoon and seems to be a few little bubbles happening. Do I just wait till more bubbles and am I supposed to feed it anything while I wait.Thanks for any help.Cheers

I am using the recipe by elliehen,just had another look,seems to be more little bubbles,will leave till morning.has'nt doubled in size though.Please any help would be great.

Well its bubbling away nicley,will wait one more day and add flour tomorrow.Hope thats right,did'n add anything to it in the end.hope its still ok tomorrow,will be day 3.

AAAaaaaahhhhhhh! I killed it lolz :( Should have done the next step yesterday (day 2) had a nice amount of bubbles happening,slight sour smell going on but thought I'd leave it another day(did'nt add anything as it looked good) and then today when I got home around 10.30 am the house had a strange smell,did'nt click till I thought oh my starter,went to the hotwater cupboard where I had kept it and the smell was stronger,not pleasant and my starter had lost all its lovely bubbles and gone back to liquid and flour with a very unpleasant smell. So will start again and this time when I see the nice bubbles will try the next step.Trial and error thats the best way to learn lolz. Nyte nyte will try again closer to the weekend again.

ok,have started 2nd bug,was nice and bubbly today after 2 days so have added the second measure of flour,now waiting 8 hours to knead and then rise and bake.Must remeber to put some aside again,for next starter.Fingers crossed this one works out.Looks like it will be a late night befor I get bread out of oven lolz :)

Well 2nd attemp was alot better.
Added starter to second lot of flour,I used all of it not just a pint as it seemed too dry,also added about 1 1/2 cups extra warm water.Then had to add more flour,looked really good when was kneading but still a bit wet,so may have added too much extra water. seemed very heavy.baked off and was very dense.had'nt really risen alot. have taken photo's of most steps so when I finally get it right,will post.Have sliced up and friozen in batch's to have toasted.Will try another batch next weekend and see what happens. Its taste nice jsut very heavy and dense.

hey m41, yes if only we paid more attension to things when being shown. I wish I could turn back the clock on many things,but alas life dos'nt work like that.Let us know if you do find a good seller.Good luck:)

Hello..is there any feedback still feeding into this...I have been trying to make this bread for a month or so and my bug goes off by the 3rd day. Make starter..peel medium sized spud, slice into 3 boil in just over 1 cup of water till cooked. Cooled and mash together adding 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar ..mix to stiffish batter..place in plastic container or glass jar..cover, leave in warm place..1st 24hours feed with either 1 tsp of sugar or 1/2 cup spud water(cooled)..bubbles have started..next 24hrs..bubbles up to near double size, so add either the sugar or potato water (smells fresh yum)that didnt previous 24hrs. mix in...leave in warm place..next 24hrs bug is liquid and smells off..thats as far as I get..but
Another time I didnt add anything over the 2-3 days and the bubbles rose.great doubled, but when I made bread to prove first time, bread rose awesome but I kneaded again and it didnt work out..lol..gone thru near 5kg of flour just trying to get it right...darn!!! HELP.

I have been given a bug that has been handed down through the family. I fed it potato water and sugar and now it is separating. Is this normal, if not can I save it and how do i do that?