My Sourdough Isn't Sour....
We are too far along to stop calling it "sourdough", but in reality it should not be puckering to eat naturally leavened bread.
A Short History
and San Fransisco's heavy influence
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Sourdough is enjoying a revolution now. It’s readily available, but where's that ‘pucker,’ that 1990’s quality we associate with the sourdough revival?... Where’s the sour? The answer lies in a recently discovered bacterial finding.
Back in 1849 when pioneers were rushing to California to stake their claims in the Gold Rush, they brought with them their ‘starters’— their own flour and water mixtures— to make bread. It was a longer journey than most anticipated and by the time they arrived, their bread starters had become lively, bacteria-heavy, overly fermented sour-smelling flour pastes. The bread they baked was termed ’sourdough’, and today we still use that term to refer to any bread that uses wild and natural yeast for fermenting and leavening.
As a society we’ve been using wild yeast to leaven breads for far longer than the commercially available yeast we’ve become accustomed to in grocery store products. Cultivating wild yeast for use at home (in bread making) still takes only flour, water, and time.
The wild yeast, bacteria and long fermentation that sourdough requires make the wheat or grain more palatable to your stomach and gut. The sourdough has done the job of starting the breakdown of the goods in the grain for you. You will absorb more of the nutrients than you would from another loaf of bread.
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Good bread takes time because starters take time. My Mother starters have been with me for years now, and picked up a lot of flavor along the way, but not that traditional sour we associate with the San Francisco sourdough; they have a noticeable, subtle sour flavor, not the pucker.
I have two very much alive and active sourdough starters: Lucky and Ryan . Lucky was my first, formed out of whole-grain rye, water, and time on a cold winter day in 2016. She’s been fed wheat since awakening, but she started on rye. She came to life about 2 weeks after her start, on St. Patrick’s day… thus, her name,
Ryan, her offspring, was fed only rye flour until that’s all he was. He’s not as old, coming into his all-rye own in October 2023, but he's used in all of my rye, creating a distinctive, notable difference in the breads, with a more sour note due to the rye grain.
Lucky and Ryan will be glad to know you asked about them
I have two very much alive and active sourdough starters, or are they mothers.....levain, barm?....
I guess we should start at the beginning. Lucky was my first starter, whole grain rye, water and time and a cold winter day back in 2016. She has been fed wheat or whole wheat since she awakening, but she started on rye. She came to life about 2 weeks after her start, coming to life on St. Patrick's Day...thus her name.
Ryan, her offspring, was an off shoot of her, but being fed only rye flour until that's all he was. He is not as old, coming into his own on all rye in October of 2023, but gets more use than Lucky these days. Ryan gets a lot of heavy use on all of my rye bread, creating a distinctive and now notable difference in the bread
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Mothers, Levain and Barm are all really different names for the same thing....depending on your life cycle. Mother, well that's just whats lying around, fed, unfed, back of the fridge, doesn't matter, its literally the mother, she can create all. Some of my recipes create a starter, or some just call for the mother to be ready. Its in these cases we use the word levain. Barm is an even older term, less used know, but essentially its a levain, in older times, it would be aided by using brewers or beer yeast.
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Sourdough FAQs
Where should I keep my bread, and how long will it last?
This is probably the most asked and most important question. The fridge is actually your worst enemy, its chilling, but not freezing temperatures accelerates its dryness, and changes the starches to accelerate staling.
The best place for your loaf is on the counter, and although shelf life will vary, its still the best place. The second best place is the freezer.
​Bread on the counter will last 3-4 days in its original packaging. It will last in the freezer tightly wrapped, or in a zip top freezer bag for 3-4 months .
My bread is stale, what now?
Sourdough has a longer lifespan that other artisanal loaves of bread. However like everything, it will decay. The secret to reviving sourdough lies in water. Simply re-steaming the bread will bring it back to its former life. Run the loaf under water until very lightly damp. Wrap in foil, and bake at 425F for 10, unwrap the loaf and toast for an additional 3-5 min, and your bread should be soft, revived and re toasted.
Is sourdough healthier?
Let me start by saying at first, I am not a nutritionist, but I have read enough of my craft as a baker to know a few things. The wild yeast, bacteria and long fermantaion that sourdough requires make the wheat or grain more palatable to your stomach and gut. The sourdough has done the job of starting the breakdown of the goods in the grain for you. You will absorb more of the nutrients in the bread than you would from another loaf of bread.