Thanks Kay for the recipe. I tried making starch once and it didn't work. Now I know why. I didn't know about the microwave part. I'm saving this recipe for future use. I love the idea of starching the placket for buttonholes. I've always been afraid o f buttonholes but have become more adventurous in my sewing since being involved with this group. Juno
Nothing really magic about it, except you get lumps if you cook it on the stove and don't stir. The microwave is faster and makes fewer lumps in my impatient hands. :-)
Kay
Thanks, Kay, for the recipe. I've also saved it for when I need some.
-- Emily
Oh, my recipe said
Dissolve 2 - 4 heaped tablespoons of starch in approximately the same amount of cold water (or a little more) until there are no lumps, then add (at medium speed) 1 litre boiling water straight out of the kettle, stirring all the while with a wire whisk.
I was amazed: up the first half litre the mixture was still milky and then it suddenly turned clear and 'bloppy'. Any lumps that occurred were not permanent but could easily be smoothed out with the brush. Thought that this is still easier than the microwave thing.
U.
My recipe is to heat the mixture in a saucepan while stirring vigorously. One can speed up the process by using only half the water at first, and pouring the rest in slowly (while still stirring vigorously) when it starts to thicken or boil.
Much easier than the microwave thing -- but nowadays I buy starch in bottles. There is a lot of extra stuff I don't want -- dyes, "ironing aid" (whatever that is), borax (?), perfume (gaa!), and processing aids -- but it also contains enough poison ("preservative") that I can keep it forever without anything snacking on it.
Edible starch will keep in the fridge for a while, but some barley-broth I made for cycling coagulated when I froze it, and I suspect that other starch solutions would too.
I suspect that open-kettle canning would work nicely, but I stuck to making no more than I could use up in a few days.
(Open-kettle means that after you've boiled it long enough to sterilize it, you pour it into sterile jars, which are further sterilized by the boiling starch, then seal at once with lids you've fetched out of boiling water with tongs. Since it's possible that a botulus spore might float by and fall in just before you put the lid on, the method has been deprecated except for foods that will keep at room temperature even if not canned.)
I made up a batch of starch tonight, using your recipe. Came out nice and thick. Tomorrow Ill paint it on some ribbed knit ans let it dry to make a tee top. Thanks again. OBTW I also bought the Connie Crawford tee shirt pattern. Looks like it might be the best tee shirt pattern for me. Juno
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