Videos

Root Simple Video Podcast in the iTunes Store

Mr. Homegrown
Videos
3 Comments

The Root Simple Video Podcast is now available in the iTunes store here. Currently there are two episodes, one on how to make a sourdough culture and the second on how to make a cotton ball fire starter. The videos can also be viewed on our website on our video page.

The Root Simple Video Podcast is still in beta mode as we get the hang of editing for display on mobile devices. New episodes will appear soon including one on how to make a basic sourdough bread.

So what topics and projects would you like us to tackle in future episodes? Please let us know in the comments . . .

Root Simple Video Podcast Episode 2: How To Make a Cotton Ball Fire Starter

Mr. Homegrown
How-to, Preparedness, Videos
6 Comments

In the second episode of the Root Simple Video Podcast you’ll learn how to make a cotton ball fire starter. It’s easy:

Rub some petroleum jelly in a couple of cotton balls and store them in a pill bottle. That’s it. We got five and half minutes of burn time–most of that strong flame–out of the ball we made for this video. Them dead dinosaurs burn good!

Make some of these and the next time you need to start a fire in a hurry, or under less-than-perfect conditions, you’ll be a happy camper.

You can download a copy of this video here.

And note that the Root Simple Video Podcast is now available in the iTunes store for free here. Subscribe and you can play our videos on your iPhone, iPod, iPad and iScroll™ (ok, made up that last one). We’re still working out a few technical kinks, but you can look forward to a lot more videos, including bread baking how-tos, in the coming year.

Root Simple Video Podcast Episode 1: How To Make a Sourdough Starter

Mr. Homegrown
Bread, Food, Videos
22 Comments

Here’s the first in a series of Root Simple how-to videos. Look for them on the blog and, soon, on your mobile thingies. I started with a little edit on how to make a sourdough starter. And I take requests–if there’s a topic for a video you’d like to see just leave a comment. 

Making a sourdough starter is as simple as mixing flour and water. There’s no need for all the crazy things I’ve heard suggested: adding potatoes, grapes, yogurt and certainly not commercial yeast. And the yeast that makes sourdough happen is on the flour itself in far greater quantities than in the air.

After following the simple steps I demonstrate in this video you’ll end up with a small amount of starter that you use to “inoculate” a larger batch of starter to use in a bread recipe. Keep your starter at room temperature and feed every day. Alternately, you can put it in the fridge if you don’t want to feed it all the time. When you want to wake it up, take it out of the fridge and feed for a day or two before you bake with it.

You’ll never go back to commercial yeast once you get used to the taste of bread made with a sourdough starter.

You can download a copy of this video here.