{"id":7846,"date":"2020-04-14T03:02:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T10:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nourishedkitchen.com\/?p=7846"},"modified":"2022-03-17T15:53:31","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T22:53:31","slug":"how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nourishedkitchen.com\/how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Sourdough Starter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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People have been baking bread with sourdough starter <\/strong>for thousands of years. It's an ancient technique that's ripe for renewal. And it's a lot easier than you think. With plenty of patience and about a week of diligent feedings, you'll be able to transform plain water and flour into a bubbly leavening that you can use to bake bread<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Bubbly<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is a sourdough starter? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A sourdough starter is the natural leavening that gives sourdough bread <\/a>its flavor and also makes it rise. Sourdough starter and wild yeast<\/a> have served as the leavening agent for bread bakers throughout most of human history. That is, until commercial, packaged baker's yeast became available in the mid-19th century. However, it wasn't until much later that it became accessible for most home bakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like yogurt<\/a>, sourdough starter is rich in active, live cultures. These cultures include lactic- and acetic-acid-producing bacteria and various strains of wild yeast (2), but your environment, the type of flour you use, how much water you add, and other factors influence the microbial content of your starter (3). These tiny microorganisms work together to make amazing bread. The bacteria give bread a slightly sour flavor, while the wild yeasts in the starter help to make your it rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does it work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sourdough starters work by capturing and activating the naturally occurring wild yeast and bacteria in the environment. These microbes are just about everywhere: in the flour, on your kitchen surfaces, and even on your hands (4). When you add water to the flour, you activate these tiny organisms and they begin to multiply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With time, and consistently adding new water and new flour to the mix (a practice bakers call \"feeding\"), the bacteria and yeast in your starter will become super active. That's because a wet environment is perfect for their growth, and is essential for the fermentation process. As these microbes grow, they'll eat the carbohydrates in the flour, and release carbon dioxide, B vitamins, and natural acids. The principle is it at work in other fermented foods, too. It's why kombucha<\/a> is bubbly and sauerkraut<\/a> is sour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, when you mix a bit of your own starter into flour and other ingredients for making bread, they'll continue to eat those carbohydrates and release more carbon dioxide and more acids. The carbon dioxide makes the bread rise and the acids give sourdough bread its distinct tart flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to make a sourdough starter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Making your own sourdough starter is an exercise of patience and daily diligence. But it's also empowering. There's nothing quite like making your own homemade bread from a ripe starter that you created yourself from nothing but flour and water. After about a week (sometimes longer), your starter will be ready to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n