If you’ve never had sourdough before, it’s basically a natural leavening agent. That’s the technical term for what makes bread rise and gives it that characteristic light and fluffy texture. There are many benefits to eating sourdough besides just the taste.
Sourdough is a complex mixture of yeasts, lactic acid bacteria (also known as lactic acid), and other microorganisms that have been feeding on organic materials for hundreds or even thousands of years.
The fermentation process breaks down complex carbohydrates in cereal grains into simple sugars that build up the structure of gluten. This makes sourdough ideal for making bread because it results in a fresher tasting loaf that has more structure than when flour is used directly.
The downside to all this fermenting goodness is that the bacteria can be quite fecund; they tend to multiply quickly and release gas as they do so. This is one of the reasons why homemade bread tends to smell so good when you first make it; when you put your bread in an enclosed space, the gassy aroma from all those yeast cells fills up the space until you can smell it from outside your house!
ow long can sourdough last?
Sourdough is a living thing and so the longer you store it, the longer it will live. Sourdough will usually last around 3 weeks in the fridge but it can last up to 6 months in the freezer.
So long as you take care of it, it will always be alive! If you’re sharing sourdough bread with friends and family, keep in mind that it will start to go stale after 3-4 days. When that happens, use it as soon as possible.
The longer that bread sits around, the more likely it is to get dry and crumbly. If you’re not going to be able to consume your bread right away, you can store sourdough in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Just remember that oxygen will start to get to the bread and cause it to go stale faster.
Adding yeast to your starter
This is what creates the leavened bread. Some people prefer using yeast to create their bread because it is an easier way to get new bread out of their sourdough starter. There are two options when adding yeast to sourdough: the wet method and the dry method. In the wet method, you add the yeast directly to your sourdough.
You can do this by adding the yeast and the water to cup of your starter and mixing it together. This is a quick and easy way to get the yeast going. In the dry method, you add the yeast and let the sourdough do the work. Once you’ve added the yeast and left it to sit in the fridge for 8 hours, you take out the bowl and add the following ingredients:
2 cups of warm water – 2 cups of sourdough starter – 1 cup of flour – 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum – 1/4 teaspoon of salt Mix it together and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Then place it back in the fridge and let it sit there for another 4 hours. The yeast will activate in the fridge and start growing.
This will happen faster if your room temperature is cold. In that case, take the starter out and place it in a warm place while the yeast multiplies.
Can you freeze sourdough starters?
Yes! You can freeze your sourdough starter in an ice-cube tray. When you’re ready to use it again, just take the frozen cubes out of the tray and let them sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Then add the cubes back to your sourdough starter and continue with your recipe as usual. Sourdough is actually very easy to freeze. It’s actually one of the few things that you can freeze without any real issues. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you’re going to freeze sourdough, make sure to keep it as fresh as you can.
Add a tablespoon of sugar to slow down the yeast growth
When you first make sourdough and keep it in the fridge, the yeast will go crazy and multiply quite quickly. You can help slow that process down by adding a tablespoon of sugar to your starter.
The yeast and bacteria will continue to feed off of that sugar and grow more slowly while they are doing so. You can add the sugar later, once your starter has slowed down a bit. This gives you the freedom to experiment and add flavourings to your bread if you’d like.
How do you get new starter from old starter?
If you find that you’ve made a new batch of sourdough and you have some old starter that you don’t want to use up, all you have to do is mix the new starter with the old.
You can easily do this by taking what’s left in the bowl, putting in a cup of flour and a little bit of water, mixing it all together and putting it back in the fridge for 8 hours. After 8 hours, you can take out your old starter and mix it with the new one.
The new starter should be around half the volume of the old one since the yeast and bacteria will have eaten up most of the nutrients from the old starter.
Can you use yogurt in sourdough starter?
Yogurt is a great source of probiotics which are good bacteria that can help retain the flavour and nutritional benefits of your sourdough starter. The best part is that it’s very easy to do.
All you have to do is put some yogurt in your sourdough starter, cover it and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, you can take the yogurt out and use it in your sourdough recipe. Just make sure that you keep your starter covered while you’re using it so that the good bacteria don’t escape.
Summary
Sourdough is a great way to make bread, but it’s also a great way to feed your family on healthy, nutrient-rich, probiotic-rich bread. You can easily make your own sourdough starter with a couple of ingredients from your fridge.
Once you have your starter, you can experiment with different ingredients and create your own favourite recipes. Sourdough is also great because it doesn’t require any special yeast or flour. You can use any flour or even wheat berries to make sourdough. You can also use any liquid for your starter, so there’s no limit to your sourdough recipe creativity!
FAQs
Q: Why is sourdough bread sometimes crumbly?
A: Sourdough bread can be a bit crumbly because of the way it develops. It’s not a problem of your sourdough starter though. You can simply add a little more flour to your recipe if you need it to develop properly.
Q: Why do some sourdough starters expand and others don’t?
A: Sourdough starters are very unique in that they develop differently depending on the environment they’re in. They may expand or shrink depending on what kind of environment they’re in. It doesn’t mean that one starter is better than the other, but it does give you an idea of what to look for when you buy one. If you have a starter that doesn’t expand, consider buying a new one so that your starter can adjust to its new environment!