Get Started With Your Starter - Part 1: What Is Sourdough?

Sourdough bread is healthier (fact) and tastier (opinion) than most commercially made breads. A sourdough 'starter' is a culture of yeast and healthy bacteria used to make sourdough (aka 'naturally leavened') bread. A starter is simply flour and water, and the yeast and bacteria are encouraged to thrive naturally within that mixture.

What makes bread 'sourdough'?

It's common to hear 'sourdough' and think of a very specific kind of bread: a white crusty loaf with a strong tangy flavor. But that's not the only kind of sourdough bread! In fact, *all* bread and pastries made before a few hundred years ago were made with sourdough!

That's because 'sourdough' is just a type of yeast, used to make bread rise. Commercial yeasts, like 'Active Dry', 'Instant', and 'Bakers' (or 'fresh') yeast, work a bit differently than sourdough does.

Any bread you can make with commercial yeast, you can also make with sourdough.

That's right! Sourdough bread does not need to be sour! It's not weird at all to make sweet pastries and mild (not-tangy) bread using sourdough starter, and it's the way breads have been made for thousands of years! It all comes down to how the baker chooses to prepare the dough.

Because of this, it's common to refer to sourdough as being naturally leavened. This is just a fancy term that means commercial yeast was not used to make the bread rise. This term is popular because a lot of people hear 'sourdough' and immediately think the result is going to be sour, which isn't always true.

What is a sourdough starter?

You might be surprised to learn that a sourdough starter is simply flour and water. That's it!

Well... not quite. The flour and water mixtures act like a comfy house to a group of natural bacteria and yeast, called a culture. These bacteria and yeast already live in the air, on the natural foods we eat, and in our own digestive system!

Even though the yeast gets all the attention, it's really the good bacteria in a sourdough culture that makes it work differently than commercial yeasts.

Why use sourdough when I can use commercial yeast?

Commercial yeast is easy to obtain and easy to use, so why bother creating and using a sourdough starter?

The main difference between making bread with sourdough and making bread with commercial yeast is that the sourdough ferments the bread.

The process of fermenting any food comes with a wide range of benefits:

• The food lasts longer without spoiling

• The food is a lot more nutritious

• It's usually easier to digest the food (especially for people with gluten intolerance)

• Fermented food is very good for our gut bacteria

• (biased opinion) it's more fun to make!

Cool! How can I get started baking sourdough?

The first thing you'll need is your own sourdough starter, which is that culture of yeast and bacteria I mentioned above. It's pretty easy to make from home, you just need to be patient! To help speed things along, you can also grab some dried starter from an established baker like me!

Equipment

• Some kind of see-through jar with a lid (I use a quart-sized plastic takeout container)

• A rubber band that fits around the jar

• A digital kitchen scale (here's an inexpensive one that would work)
  

Ingredients

• Unbleached white flour (King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour is great to start)

• Whole wheat flour or whole rye flour

• Water*

• (optional) dried starter

* Try not to use tap water since it often contains chlorine and fluoride, which can harm the yeast. Distilled water or mineral drinking water is best.

You might also want to get your hands on a large cast iron dutch oven, which is the only other uncommon piece of equipment you'll need to start baking once your starter is healthy.

Got your hands on some dried starter and ready to start baking? Move on over to Part 2: Sourdough Starter Basics