Rewena Bread- Any tried and true recipes?

I'm looking to try my hand at Rewena bread, any recipes you have to share? Any tips for growing the bug?

I usually keep a bug in the fridge... . It has been past over to me from my mum who got it from her mum and so on... . . But i think all it is is flour and potatoe juice... . If you are able to score you a bug from a family member than that will be the easiest way... . If you get a bug than just add a bit of flour and a bit of warm water (I use maori potatoe juice cos it makes the bug rise faster and it also has a real rewena bread taste) leave to rise... . . Once risen than get a bowl of high grade flour and some pure flour mix it together than make a hole in the middle add to it your bug and begin mixing it so it forms a dough keep needing until smooth... ... Once done than save a little bit and leave in separate container(add a little flour and water to it mix together than put back in the fridge and save it for your next rewena bread, this is called a bug it just keeps going and going)Grease a kohua with heaps of butter including sides and the lid... . . Put your dough in the kohua and cut a line from one side to the other... . . Leave to rise again in a warm place until it nearly hits the top... Cook until its brown not golden "brown" or when the bread feels light when you pick it up... . Wrap in a wet tea towel cover with a plastic bag than wait until its fully cooled down before cutting... . . Eat and enjoy hope this helps... ... . .
Sorry not too sure how to make it with yeast as I always use my bugs... ... .

Thanks, Im going to try and get this bug going, I just started one but for some reason, I have a feeling its not going to work...

We will see tomorrow.

Original Plant for Potato Leaven: 1 & 1/2 pints water, 1 potato, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon sugar. Boil the potato in 1 & 1/2 pints of unsalted water to mashing consistency, cool to lukewarm. Mix in flour and sugar, pour into quart preserving jar and leave in warm place until it begins to ferment. This could take several days. [Apologies for not doing the metric conversion]
Rewena Paraoa (Maori Bread):
6 cups flour, 3 Tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 pint leaven mixture. Mix all ingreds well and leave to prove for 8 hours in covered bowl in warm place. Then knead mixture thoroughly; more flour may be required for firm dough. Put into a warm greased camp oven and warm and grease lid as well and place on top; or put into 2 warmed & greased loaf tins and let rise again in warm place for another 1 & 1/2 hours. Bake at 220*C for 45-50 mins for camp oven bread; bake at 200*C for 45-50 mins for bread in loaf tins.
Return a piece of uncooked dough about the size of a tennis ball to the preserving jar and feed alternately with 1/2 teaspoon sugar one day and a little unsalted potato water the next, until the next baking.
[From 'Take Our Bread' by Marcelle Pilkinton 1979]

Well, I got my bug started yesterday, had a look this morning and its bubbling and rising like mad, cant wait to try it!

I used a whole medium organic potato instead of the recommended 3 slices, and accidentally put in a tablespoon of sugar rather than the teaspoon. Time will tell if this was a moment of serendipity.

Hey coyote and rwaioira, do you use the potato as well when making the bug or just the water, Thanks

Yep, potato and the water.

I have to say my bug is so crazy, its really grown and is bubbling and frothing, I think its ready to use already!

Yeap I use potatoe and water too... Im sooo glad your bug is going can wait to hear how your bread turns out... Yummy im just baking one right now and can smells it cant wait for tomorrow to have some... .

P. S Good Luck coyoteblonde

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.

Trademe recipes and not for theStacksofrecipes thief!

I will add my note.
Another great thread from the Trademe Community Recipes forum. A great group of helpful friendly members happily sharing with the Trademe family and visitors. We invite you to join us here and not on the stack--- site these have been hijacked to.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages. asp
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and while you are here check for other threads that have been hijacked.

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.