Sourdough

Sourdough is the oldest way to raise bread, and it is old-fashioned on purpose. Before packets of yeast, bakers kept a lump of fermenting dough alive and used a piece of it to leaven each new batch. That is still all a sourdough starter is: flour and water, colonised by the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria that already live on grain and in your kitchen, kept going with regular feedings.

The yeast makes gas, so the dough rises. The bacteria make lactic and acetic acids, so the bread tastes tangy, keeps a little longer and develops a chewy, open crumb. None of it is fast. A good loaf takes the better part of a day, most of it hands-off, and that slow fermentation is the whole point. You trade speed for flavour, and for a skill you can pass on.

This hub walks you through it in order. Start with the beginner’s guide for the whole process, then make a starter from scratch and learn how to feed it. When the jar fills up, turn to our sourdough discard recipes. And if you have heard that sourdough is a health food, or safe for celiac disease, we have read the studies: see is sourdough healthy? and is sourdough gluten-free?

Flour is a pantry staple, so if you are building a from-scratch kitchen, our pantry hub is the natural next stop.