Sourdough Basics – What is a sourdough starter and what is sourdough bread?

My Love for Bread Making

Hey guys, this week I am talking about something that I am super passionate about.  What is it?  Bread making, or more specifically sourdough bread!

See that picture above? That was our restaurant. 

Fun fact, I use to make bread (mostly bagels) at my restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. My husband and I built our cafe from the ground up. What an experience that was!!

My Restaurant & Bagels

I learned so much about bread making and this is where I was introduced to sourdough. We had the most amazing sourdough bagels!

Did you know that a true bagel is ALWAYS boiled?  That is what gives it the chewy center.  I’ll be sharing my sourdough bagel recipe with you all in an upcoming post!

I wanted to show you this picture because this is when I got “the sourdough bug”, and could not get enough of it! 🙂 So today I’d like to talk a bit about sourdough.

A Sourdough Series

Who knew there were so many things you could do with sourdough, right?!  I get it…Sourdough is a large topic so I thought I would tackle this in baby steps! Here is the breakdown:

     ✰     How I am Gluten Intolerant and Enjoying Bread Again

     ✰     Sourdough Basics ~ What is a sourdough starter and what is sourdough bread

     ✰     A Beginners Organic Sourdough Bread Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}

     ✰     Organic Sourdough Hamburger Buns Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}

     ✰     A Traditional San Francisco Sourdough Bread Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}

     ✰     Organic Sourdough Bagel Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}

I highly recommend that you start with the first post and work down the list in the order that I have them. I have posted them within the level of difficulty. Beginners sourdough being the easiest to organic sourdough bagels being the most challenging.

All can be achieved.  And as always, ask away in the comment section below this post!

What is Sourdough?

So what exactly is sourdough? Good question!

Sourdough is a bread product made by a long fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeasts. In comparison with breads made with cultivated yeast, it usually has a mildly sour taste because of the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli. (source)

There are so many amazing health benefits from eating sourdough.  You can learn more about it here.

Sourdough Bread has been made for centuries and centuries. It is a traditionally prepared bread that has been treasured by so many! And the taste…oh the taste!!

What is a sourdough starter and what does it look like?

But to get to this amazing bread, you will need a sourdough starter!

A sourdough starter is a pre-ferment made from flour and water.

The purpose of the starter is to produce a vigorous leaven and to develop the flavor of the bread. In practice, there are several kinds of starters, as the ratio of water to flour in the starter (the “hydration”) varies and a starter may be a fluid batter or a stiff dough. (source)

A San Francisco Sourdough Starter

There are so many sourdough starters out there and once you get some experience under your belt you can certainly explore the different flavors, but today I want to talk about the San Francisco Sourdough Starter.

This San Francisco Sourdough Starter Culture contains Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis bacteria and wild yeast Candida humilis, giving this sourdough starter that famous San Francisco taste.

It is made with organic white wheat flour and is made without GMO’s. If you are new to sourdough baking I highly recommend that you purchase a starter.

I have made my own with some great success, but it left me with a more dense loaf and this sourdough starter creates an airy and delicious bread!

Feeding Your Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starters require feedings. Feeding a sourdough starter is easy.  It consists of adding flour and water to an existing starter.

I feed mine about once a week and store it in the refrigerator. If I am getting ready to make bread, I will give it 3 feedings (8-12 hours between each feeding is necessary) so it is good and bubbly like the picture below.

So for me, I always make sourdough on Sundays.  So I pull my starter out of the refrigerator on Saturday morning, feed it…feed it again before I go to bed Saturday night and one more time Sunday morning.  By noon Sunday, my starter is ready to use.

Those bubbles = a happy and fluffy loaf of bread!

(Note: Every sourdough starter is different. Your starter will have instructions on how to feed it, just follow them and you will be well on your way to a bubbly sourdough starter like this one).

Quality Ingredients Matters!

It is so important to use quality ingredients.  Yes, I am using “white” flour, but I made sure that the red winter wheat that makes this white flour was free from GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) and I also made sure to use organic ingredients.

Look for the Non-GMO Project Verified stamp located in the lower left-hand corner of this picture.

You also want to make sure that the flour is USDA organic, located in the lower right-hand in this picture.

Multiple Sourdough Recipes Coming Up…

So maybe you can enjoy a true sourdough bread too!

Stay tuned for an organic sourdough bread recipe coming out this weekend! And next week, I will be sharing the most amazing sourdough hamburger buns recipe like ever!

Both these recipes are super easy to make and can be made together (1 loaf of bread and 9 hamburger buns)…can’t wait to share! 🙂