You can’t change that whole market - they can make a loaf of bread in 40 minutes using commercial yeast - maybe less - from the time you mix it to the time it’s out of the oven. So your bread might be easier to eat for someone who has a gluten intolerance? We’re gluten-free free, you know? Nobody speaks about commercial yeast as being an enemy. So when you’re digesting the bread, there are enzymes in your stomach that work well with the friendly bacteria, as opposed to commercially yeasted bread, where you can make a loaf of bread in 45 minutes, but you can’t digest it so easily. One of the other reasons we use a starter is the health benefits: the slower that you ferment the dough and the longer you do it, the more gluten is broken down, so it’s easier to digest it. It’ll still do the magic, it’ll still preserve it, but it won’t have that tart taste. If you don’t want it to be sour, you have a really loose, bubbly starter. Acetic acid is what gives it its tang, which you can control with the percentage of water you put in it - so if your dough is more play-doh-ish, it’ll be really sour.

There’s a friendly bacterial culture called lactobacillus, and that’s has two main acids: acetic acid and lactic acid. So it’s a symbiotic relationship, using natural yeast. So you’re just keeping it well on a regular basis, putting it in a nicely temperatured environment where it’s doing what it’s supposed to, and you’ll have something that will leaven, that will flavour, and that will preserve. So what you’re keeping it hydrated with is water, and what you’re feeding it with is flour. How would you explain what a sourdough starter is to a bread beginner? Wild yeast, when captured in a slurry, makes a culture that you can keep alive indefinitely so long as you’re hydrating it and feeding it. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.

Are We Having Fun Yet? by Kay Willis