You’ve heard about sourdough bread, but do you know what it actually is? Like many other types of bread, it’s made with yeast that helps it rise, but sourdough yeast is a lot different. It’s become very popular in recent years thanks to its airy texture and amazing flavor—but here’s what it’s really all about.
Old School Bread
Sourdough bread is not a new thing. It’s been around longer than most types of bread, long before commercial yeasts existed. The traditional recipes use nothing but a starter, flour, and salt. Sourdough starter is the thing you want to learn about, as there’s no sourdough bread without it.
What is a Starter?
Sourdough starter is made from flour and water, and it waits for the natural “wild yeast” to take hold in its culture. The mixture of flour and water starts fermenting after a few days under the right conditions, and you can learn more about the process here.
It requires you to “feed it” with flour and water daily, which will increase its volume. This is great because you can use some of the starter and feed it again, never using it up completely. Once you have the starter ready, it’s easy to make sourdough bread. You basically need flour and water, and you can add some other ingredients and make it your own.
