Sourdough 101 - About Sourdough Starters

Hey everyone! For those of you who haven't yet experimented with sourdough, check out my new blog post! I've included the intro here, but please head over to Ovenmittsblog.com to check out the rest!

Sourdough 101 - About Sourdough Starters

This is my current sourdough starter. He’s about 6 months old, and extremely flavorful for such a young guy! My boyfriend says that it makes the best sourdough bread he’s ever had, hands down. It took a few weeks for him to get going, but one day I made a loaf and WOW! Flavor explosion. But instead of using him as an example, I’m going to make a new one to show you guys how. And maybe, if anybody is interested, I’ll give it away when I’m done!

What is a Sourdough Starter?

A sourdough starter is a culture of yeast and bacteria that you grow on a water and flour medium. That sounds technical. Basically, it’s a living thing that you can add to your breads for natural leavening (as opposed to commercial yeast) and a fermented, or “sour,” flavor.

Sourdough, or wild yeast, starters are grown using just flour and water (or sometimes pineapple or orange juice to keep away bad bacteria, as we will use here). There is no commercial yeast added to “get it going.” This will hinder the growth of a really good starter.

Wait. Isn’t yeast, yeast?? Unfortunately, no.......

To keep reading, head on over to Ovenmittsblog.com! As always, I appreciate any input or comments you have to give.

Thanks a bunch,

Raquel