Sourdough cookery is not new to me, I’ve used sour dough from time to time for many years, but in the 20 years I managed our family’s business, some things got set aside – and sourdough cookery was one of them. At length, we sold the store and I came home to spend more time with my grandbabies. Suddenly I had time on my hands to go back to things I had done in a previous life, one of them – using natural yeast.
What is Natural Yeast and where is it found?
Natural yeast is a living microorganism that is found everywhere in the world around us: in the air, on plants, fruits, vegetables, flowers and grains – even on your skin and throughout your home. That white ‘sheen on grapes’? – natural yeast. It can be used to make bread, beer, and wine.
It can be nurtured from the active ‘starter’ you received from a friend, or you can cultivate your own natural yeast at home – all you need is flour and water. You don’t actually ‘create’ it since wild yeast is everywhere, you simply ‘capture‘ it and nurture it along till its strong and healthy.
How does it work?
Natural yeast is a living thing, and part of nurturing it, is ‘feeding’ it. It feeds on simple sugars found in flour, releasing carbon dioxide which creates bubbles of gas – the process of which rises its volume. This same process, taken one step further by adding more flour and more water creates ‘bread’. But it takes time, and a little more patience then we’re accustomed to exercising in our fast paced instant-action world.
Why should you bother?
Because it’s good for you, that’s why. Natural yeast has been fermenting for weeks or months or even years – containing lots of healthy bacteria. The process of rising with natural yeast is actually a ‘fermentation’ process – breaking down phytic acids in the flour, making the end result easier to digest, which in turns makes the nutritional value of the grain easier to assimilate. It converts the gluten-ey dough into digestible food that will not activate your body’s immune responses. Many people report fewer digestive issues eating natural yeast breads compared to other foods made with flour. Contrast with quick rising yeast – which while rising the dough to a nice fluffy loaf, simply doesn’t have the time to break down those same enzymes.
Over the years sourdough bread has evolved into quite a trendy thing. Who knew? I think our great grandmothers would get quite a kick outta that LOL. Especially when they were so happy to help usher in the convenience of laboratory produced yeast.
Using natural yeast requires a longer rising period and more planning than we’ve become accustomed to, but what none of us realized when we switched over to laboratory produced yeast in the last half century, was that the ‘new’ yeast that sped up the chore of making bread – began causing health problems we couldn’t envision, and we took decades to identify.
a little history to provide context
Only 100 years ago, all leavened bread was sourdough. It wasn’t called that – it was just called BREAD. The alternative was unleavened bread (made without rising agents) often called “flat bread”. In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur figured out that yeast was alive and could be harnessed in pure form. He wasn’t the first to discover it; in 1680, a Dutchman, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed yeast for the first time through a microscope, but it took two hundred years to learn enough to get it into the hands of bakers. A complete game changer! Bakeries could form breads quicker and produce a steady outcome EVERY TIME, using “fresh yeast” compressed into a ‘cake’ (also called “baker’s yeast”). There were drawbacks to this “yeast”: it perished quickly – so had to be used soon after production.
During World War 2, Fleischmann Brothers (an American yeast company) developed a granulated dry yeast which had a much longer shelf life than ‘fresh’ yeast, and rose twice as fast. Another happy game changer in the bread baking world, the average homemaker could now have yeast that didn’t need to be refrigerated and lasted for months! And you didn’t have to take care of it – you just let it sit in the jar. This was the yeast my grandmother would have been introduced to in the 1940’s or 50’s. It was the yeast my mother grew up using, and the yeast I learned how to make bread using. Neither my mother nor I knew there was any other way.
In 1973, “Lesaffre” a French yeast manufacturer, (and the world’s largest producer), created what they called “instant yeast”. Also called “quick rise yeast” or “fast acting yeast”, it gained considerable popularity. It looks like active dry yeast — but the granules are smaller, having more live cells, allowing it to act a lot faster. Instant yeast does not need to be rehydrated or proofed before adding it to other ingredients. Since 1984, instant yeast has become the go-to yeast for many home bakers. I admit, I was pretty happy when I discovered it. I’m as much about convenience and saving time as anyone else, but we should have known better. There are always drawbacks.
What we didn’t realize was that the longer rising time required when using natural yeast (a fermenting process), helped to break down difficult to digest components in the wheat. Natural yeasts create an acidity in dough that breaks down gluten to safe levels. How could we know? In those days I had never heard of natural yeast. Few people knew or even wondered whether grocery store yeast was naturally occurring or laboratory created. We had too much confidence in where our food was coming from. Commercial yeast was developed to be fast acting.
We’ve all questioned the number of people nowadays who seem to have ‘gluten’ issues. But researches now suspect that the problem may not be so much of a ‘gluten’ problem as it is a ‘yeast’ problem. Who would have thought that something that took so long and so much effort to develop, creating such time saving convenience as active yeast, would be the cause of a whole new kind of health problem? Who would have thought that the time consuming chore of using natural yeast to make bread would be the key to whole grain nutrition and therefore – health?
Going back to using NATURAL YEAST may be trendy, but it is also very important to our over all health. We’ve become a people accustomed to ‘quick n easy’ convenience. We want it all. The simple and unavoidable truth is: Natural Yeast takes TIME. There’s no denying it. It’s an adjustment that requires us to take a step back, chill out, and exercise patience. But keep in mind that these things are also good for us.
I’ll be honest – some of my love affair with natural yeast comes from the self reliance aspect. Once you have learned to master (and it IS a learned mastery) keeping a healthy natural yeast starter in your kitchen, you will never have to buy yeast again. I’m not going to pretend I don’t buy yeast. I do. There are infrequent times that I feel the need to make bread quickly (relatively). Maybe I decide to make buns to go with some homemade soup I’m taking to a friend, or maybe I decide to make pizza for dinner, or maybe I decide to make cinnamon rolls for Dan . . . these are times I’m glad to have some active dry yeast on hand. Yes, you can do all that with sourdough bread – but sometimes I just want to make those things NOW, not tomorrow.
So I am on a crusade to help people learn how to use Natural Yeast if they have an inclination to do so.
#1 rule: NEVER RUSH THE SOURDOUGH
#2 rule: Sour dough takes time and patience
#3 rule: Sour dough has its own life and its own way of reacting
#4 rule: Making sourdough bread is mostly waiting for the dough to be ready
#5 rule: Time is the most important ingredient
Notice all these rules have to do with TIME. If you obey them, you’ll be happier. Yes, I know it goes against our nature to be patient, but it will pay off. I promise. Sourdough cannot be rushed. It might help to remind yourself that this time consuming process of fermenting is what makes the bread so nutritionally superior. It cannot be rushed, and if your don’t rush it, it is very forgiving.
I am of the belief that wheat is a GOOD grain, and could bless the lives of many homes if used properly. See the article “To Wheat or Not to Wheat” on this site. The refined flour we buy in our grocery store (white flour), has the bran removed making it lighter and more delicate, as well as the wheat germ removed extending its shelf life. The result of these losses is a flour that lasts longer but is deficient of many of its former health benefits. Taking that refinement one step further – bleaching the flour – subtracts even more nutritional value.
it starts with a starter
Wild yeast is on everything around us. We just need to ‘capture’ it, and its remarkably easy to do, since its already in the empty clean jar you just got out of the cupboard.
Remember natural yeast is a living thing. If you forget it on your counter for days without feeding it, you’ll kill it. If you forget it in the back of your fridge for a month, you’ll kill it. Remind yourself that it is your friend, and it NEEDS to be taken care of. If you had a pet, you’d take care of it. Be kind.
Yes, you can make your own starter, and I will add how to do that (I’ve had to) in a future edit of this post . . . . but for now, and for the sake of time, I’m going to suggest you ask a friend for some of their starter. It’s easier to keep it alive than to bring it to life. And it’s one of the beautiful things about sourdough. You become part of a community.
I got my first starter from my friend Joanne MacDonald here in Edmonton. A year or two later – through unintentional neglect on my part (life gets busy sometimes), it died. I phoned to ask for another start, but she too had let her own die. She told me she was planning to phone me to ask for one LOL. I posted on an appropriate facebook group I belong to, and a stranger who didn’t live too far away offered to give me a new start. A day or so later I went to her house and picked it up. A couple of years later, I let that one die too (sigh), but I was too embarrassed to ask Joanne, and didn’t want to advertise in that same facebook group that I was a killer, so I decided to start my own from scratch. Because I knew what to expect and how to properly take care of a starter, it helped me with my own. You’ll be happy to know that I have given up my killing ways, but I understand how easily it can happen, and I forgive you already if you do it.
When you get a ‘start’ from someone, less is more. Too big of a start is harder to keep healthy because it eats too much. A tablespoon or two is BEST.
Lets assume you have two tablespoons . . . .
Day 1
2 Tablespoons starter
1/4 cup flour (your choice which kind) – I usually use whole wheat, but I’ve also used barley flour, spelt flour, rye flour, and unbleached why flour. If you’re just beginning, trying to have a good experience, I recommend using unbleached flour.
1/4 cup water (tap water is fine)
Mix well and put into a clean pint jar. I like using a glass jar as opposed to any other container because it allows you to see bubbles on the top and sides. This is very important as it reassures you that it is alive. Even if it is not doubling in size as you’d like, it IS alive if you see bubbles and that is a reassuring thing. You should also note a slight yeasty smell to it.
Mark the level with a sharpie or an elastic band. It is helpful to keep track of where it ‘was’ and how much it has risen. Cover lightly (not airtight) and set aside on your counter). If its summer and your kitchen is warm, your starter will be more active than in the winter when your kitchen is cool. That’s okay – I’m more active in the summer too. Both are good, the cool room might just be a slower.
Day 2
The next day, you may see that it has risen, or you may think it has not – but there are still small air bubbles. Relax. Stir it down. Maybe leave it another night.
Day 3
Next day, stir down again. Add another 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Mix well, mark your new level and leave over night again.
Day 4
By now, you should see more bubbles and noticeable more rising.
If your ‘starter’ is getting too big (like 1 1/2 cups or more), and you’re still waiting for it to show you its real HAPPY by doubling in size, then you need to dispose of some of it.
Its getting to be too big to feed enough. You can use some of it (called discard) in other recipes like muffins, pancakes, crepes or waffles. Or you’ll have to dump some of it into the compost pail or garbage. (see below for more information on discard)
If you have to discard some starter, start again with 1/4 cup or less and continue to feed, stirring daily, and feeding on alternate days. Once you see that the bubbles are very active and that the starter is happy, then you’re good to make your first loaf of bread.
Don’t rush it. Be patient. Your investing in a ‘friend’ that can be with you for years.
see below for recipes
In most cases, I am a 100% Whole Wheat person, nevertheless I highly recommend you start out your sourdough experience with unbleached flour – NOT whole wheat.
Three reasons:
1. Whole wheat flour is a whole different ball game. It requires its own degree of patience as you figure it out. Don’t complicate things right outta the gate. Learning sourdough is enough of a learning curve for one time.
2. White flour responds easily and is forgiving. The only white flour I have ever purchased is unbleached. As a refined flour, it is the less tampered with. Personally I don’t buy whole wheat flour either because I grind my own, but if you’re going to buy it, pay attention to the expiry date. It still contains wheat germ (which contains oil), and wheat germ oil will go rancid in time. Don’t expect to store it for months. For the reason of freshness, I grind only what I can use right away.
3. Once you’ve had success in making a few loaves of WHITE sourdough bread (with unbleached flour), and you’ve gained some confidence, you might want to begin a new adventure by adding small amounts of whole wheat flour. Start by adding one cup the first time, then two cups the next time. By limiting the amounts, you can control the experiment. You’ll notice some differences in your bread texture and density, but they’ll be minor as you get more used to the whole wheat flour. Continue to add more whole wheat flour one cup more per batch, until you’re satisfied with what you’ve got. And then stop. Do the same amount again and again until you get used to using it.
my ideal loaf of bread
. . . is made with 100% finely ground whole wheat flour, and surprisingly, it is as airy and high as any white loaf. But better to have some good experiences before you start complicating your life. Line upon line. Precept upon precept.
Once you’ve had some good experiences with your bread, and you’re maintaining a healthy starter (its continuing to grow as you take care of it), you’ll love the new freedom these successes will give you. Have fun. Start to experiment with different recipes.
Fun facts and Helpful Tips
* Some people weigh their ingredients, some people measure.
As a rule, though I have a scale and use it occasionally, I chose not to weigh. Just my preference. You do you.
* I try to make bread once a week; sometimes if I have company I make two or three loaves in a week. Sometimes I don’t make any. To accommodate my personal routine, I keep my starter in the fridge – which slows down the growth, so that I usually feed it once a week.
* Most of the time, I use 1/2 cup starter and replace it with 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Most often I use it straight out of the fridge, though occasionally I’ll leave it on the counter for a full day before using.
* Though ideal, it is NOT necessary to have a beautifully fluffy starter when beginning a new batch of bread. As long as you can see bubbles you know its healthy so go ahead and use it. All that will happen is that it might take an extra hour or two of fermenting / proofing time.
* You’ll come across all sorts of recipes and methods – some will be very different than others. There is not single ‘correct’ way as long as the end result is a good loaf of bread. I know people who set their clocks and tend to their dough every hour or two throughout the day. That does not jive with my personality or my life schedule. My method must allow me to be absent for hours at a time.
* Remember that people have made bread with natural yeast for 6000 years, our ancestors brought natural yeast with them across the plains. Many made bread daily. I am 100% certain they didn’t weight ingredients and they didn’t tend to their dough every couple hours. It’s fine to do that if that is the method you prefer, but it is NOT necessary. Allow yourself to experiment with different recipes.
* Just because I store my starter in the fridge (as I generally make bread ONCE a week), doesn’t mean you have to, or even should. If you’re making bread two or three times in a week, go ahead and leave your starter on the counter where you’ll remember to feed it, mark it, stir it, and notice when it grows. If you don’t make bread very often, then the fridge is best. It slows down the fermentation – just remember to feed it about once a week. .
* My usual go-to method is to start my bread before I go to bed at night. I let it sit all night and wake it up in the morning by kneading it. Usually, if all goes well, I can have bread baked for dinner. That doesn’t always happen. Sometimes I’m gone too long and I didn’t get it in its final proofing in time, so I end up baking it late at night. There have been times I just couldn’t get to it, and I put it covered in the fridge over night to slow down the final rising. Then I take it out, let it sit several hours till it’s room temperature before baking. SOURDOUGH BREAD is very forgiving.
* When beginning your dough and adding your flour, its tempting to assume that less ‘sticky’ is better, but don’t fall for that. The moisture in the dough actually contributes to the cooking process. Your dough should come out of the bowl a little ‘sticky’. That’s okay.
* Resting is as important to sour dough as it is to you. Don’t be in a hurry. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes between steps if you can spare it. Once you’ve mixed in all your flour, (remember your dough should still be a little sticky), let it rest a half hour. This helps soften the flour – especially if you’re using freshly ground whole wheat flour, giving it a chance to fully absorb the moisture. Letting it sit that long will make it easier to handle when you gently knead it (stretch and pull).
I highly recommend that people new to making bread, or even just new to making sourdough, WATCH someone go through the steps. Watch a friend, take a class, or watch a few you tube videos. The more you watch, the more you’ll see that people have their ‘own way’. You’ll find the way that jives with your lifestyle. That’s perfect. Go with it. Some basic steps remain constant however.
Recipe
Cindy’s Basic Sourdough Bread
In the morning, gently knead your bread again. Dough will be sticky. Don’t be tempted to add too much flour, just be gentle and add only as much flour as required to keep it from sticking to the counter. Let the dough rest about half an hour.
1/2 cup active starter
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
5-6 cups flour (I usually use whole wheat but I recommend you start with white and work your way into whatever ratio of whole wheat you want)
Combine all together with 5 cups flour. Stir well and let sit for half an hour. Gently knead a few minutes (maybe five minutes), adding SOME of the remaining cup of flour as needed. Whether you use a mixer or you’re making by hand doesn’t matter. You do you. Cover your bowl and let sit overnight (at least 10 hours). I usually start the bread before I go to bed.
Form your dough into a loaf. I make this amount into one large loaf, and either put in my prepared pan, dutch oven or baking sheet. (see below)
Cover with a lid or plastic wrap. You could use a wet tea towel, but if it dries out it will stick to your loaf and you’ll be VERY sorry.
Let sit for 3 or more hours. Remember, this timing has a lot to do with the warmth of your kitchen. DON’T RUSH YOUR SOURDOUGH. If my loaf has been sitting several hours and still has not risen very much (cool to the touch), I might give it a little boost by turning my oven on to 300 degrees, then turning it off and setting my loaf on top of the stove to enjoy the warmth.
Don’t expect your sourdough to double in size like a regular loaf. It probably won’t. It’s NOT a regular loaf. Accept it for what it is. If you’re wondering if it is rising sufficiently, gently push it with your fingers. Is it soft and squishy? It should slowly return from a gently finger print. If yes, then its exactly how it should be.
When your loaf is ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
SCORE your loaf – see below.
Place in the middle of your oven.
Bake 25 minutes, should be nicely browned, and sound hollow to the tap.
When done, remove from oven, set on stove top or rack on counter to cool.
Do NOT give into the temptation to slice into hot sourdough bread. The final cooking is happening while it is cooling. You’ll regret cutting into it, you may find some uncooked dough in the centre. You’ll only do it once.
Before baking:
You can spray your bread with water to make it a little more pliable in the oven during its final rise in the oven.
You can wash the top with olive oil for a beautiful sheen.
You can egg wash the top for a deep glossy finish.
You can lightly dust with flour for a nice finish of a different kind.
You should probably try a different method each time you make a new loaf till you find the finish you prefer.
SCORE your bread before putting it in the oven.
What is scoring? and why should you score your bread?
Scoring is cutting a slash into the surface of bread dough before baking. Bread dough expands rapidly when it is first placed in the oven, and scoring allows your bread to expand in a controlled way while baking, preventing cracking or bursting open. Scoring can also be used to create a decorative design. If you do not score, the steam will often create its own place to escape, by bursting through on one side or the other. I find it is especially important with sourdough; I don’t pretend to know why.
How to score your sourdough bread?
Score to a depth of about 1/2 inch (or 1 centimeter). I know, that seems harsh, but get over it.
Use a very sharp blade like a razor blade. For a long time I used a knife but no matter how sharp your knife is, its not fine enough for the deep cut that you need. A razor blade is sharp and thin. Much better. Sometimes I’ve even snipped with scissors for an interesting look.
Make at least one confident deep stroke. Everything after that is decorative. Have fun experimenting.
More Fun Facts and Tips:
* Scoring bread loaves was originally a way for families to identify their loaves when baking in a community oven. Home bakers would have ‘signature’ marks on their bread.
* I used to bake my bread on a greased stone. If I cut my dough in half to make two smaller loaves, I’d bake on a greased cookie sheet. Now I prefer to use parchment paper (I LOVE parchment paper) and often reuse it several times. For the last few years, I’ve been baking my bread in a single large loaf in a Dutch oven, but I still occasionally use my baking stone. There IS NO right way. It’s just what works for you today.
* once you remove starter from your jar, feed it with equal amounts of flour and water. I usually default to 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup, but if you have a large amount, that will be too little. It’s easier to maintain a smaller amount of starter. How much is too much starter to maintain? I’d say anymore than two cups is too much unless you have an immediate need that you are building it for.
DISCARD
As you continue to nurture your natural yeast starter, you should ideally be making enough bread to keep your starter to the amount you need to bake plus enough left over to continue growing more for next time. You may fall behind, and not bake bread as frequently from time to time, leading to an increased amount of healthy starter. If it isn’t being fed enough for its increasing appetite, your starter will get week and cease to actively reproduce. If you ARE continuing to keep it strong and healthy by feeding it, you’ll soon find yourself in a surplus situation – more than you need. You have two options:
1. dispose of the excess: in your compost, in your garbage, or diluted with water and rinsed down the sink. This is why its called ‘discard’. Personally I HATE wasting anything of value. And starter has value to me.
2. make something other than bread with it
Below are a few of my favourite recipes for crepes and waffles, but you can also make muffins, pancakes, quick-breads and many other tasty things. Keep your eyes open for good recipes.
Recipes:
Natural Yeast Crepes
(adapted from a recipe by Melissa Richardson in “The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast”
1 cup starter
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk OR better yet, homemade kefir or whey
1/2 cup flour
Blend all ingredients together in blender. So easy.
Pour 1/4 cup onto hot greased griddle, spread around with the back of a spoon, or tilting the pan in a circular movement to spread the batter thinly across the surface.
When bubbles have stopped forming in the batter and the crepe is no longer shiny on top, slide it out of the pan.
Continue cooking in 1/4 cup increments till done.
If the batter doesn’t spread easily or evenly, add a small amount of milk and puree again.
Serve with fresh berries, your favourite fruit spread, syrup, homemade jam or marmalade, or dusted lightly with icing sugar. Crepes are also terrific when served with chopped chicken salad or other similar dishes.
Waffles – let me just give praise for the humble versatile waffle!
Waffles can be anything you want them to be: a breakfast bread or dessert – (my daughter bakes certain of her cookies in a waffle maker), for dinner as cornbread with chili soup (your favourite cornbread recipe spooned onto a waffle iron), or for dinner as the base for serving pulled pork or chicken n waffles.
Crispy Oatmeal Waffles
(adapted from a recipe by Melissa Richardson in “The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast”
– this amount is good for three people
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup starter
1/2 cup flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup regular rolled oats
Beat eggs. Add starter to egg mixture, gently folding in with spatula. Add all remaining ingredients and fold in, ending with rolled oats. Allow to rest for about 10-15 minutes. Heat waffle iron and lightly grease. Pour approximately 1/3 – 1/2 cup measurements into the hot waffle iron. Don’t over cook them.
Serve with homemade syrup or berry sauce. I like to serve with fresh apple sauce with a drizzle of maple syrup.
Airy, Light, Natural Yeast Waffles
– this amount is good for three people
2 eggs
1/2 cup starter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 T oil
1/4 t salt
1 T brown sugar
Beat eggs, add everything to egg mixture and gently stir with whisk to thoroughly incorporate.
Pour into HOT waffle iron and cook.
Kitchen Tools that come in handy
Large mixing bowl
dough scraper
One of my most indispensable utensils, I hardly go a day without using it. To cut dough, pizza, squares, cake, grilled cheese sandwiches, . . . . To scrape counter tops for easy clean up.
Dutch oven or baking stone
I like that each of these are heavy, which helps them retain heat longer. I use the dutch over as a ‘bread box’ to store the bread in till I make another loaf.
Baking Stone
I love my baking stone, and can hardly remember a time when I didn’t use it. I found that it paid to get a good one. They work by absorbing and retaining heat, which is then distributed into the food, resulting in a crispy bottom with the top and sides cooked by radiant heat.
For breads, baking stones provide “oven spring” (the final rising that happens in the oven), quickly cooking and crisping the bottom while simultaneously causing the yeast to begin a feeding frenzy that releases carbon dioxide and steam into the dough for a lighter and airier crust.
parchment paper to link the baking surface for no stick and easy clean up
food safe glass jars
for storing your starter in. I generally use pint sized jars, but occasionally if I have to make more starter to share or prepare extra recipes, I’ll temporarily use a quart jar till I can bring my starter back down to a more sustainable size.
Danish Dough Whisk
This is a new tool to me. A friend gave it to me as a birthday gift last year and I hung it with my other tools and liked the look at it. It took me over a year to finally use it though. I was surprised at how well it assimilated all my dry ingredients, and equally surprised at how thoroughly the liquids were incorporated, and how gently it worked. Game changer from now on for muffin batter. Give it a try.
I really hope you’ll give sourdough a try. It takes some adjusting to your thinking if you’re accustomed to making ordinary bread, but once you’ve made that adjustment so that your expectations are reasonable, you’ll love the lifestyle it brings with it.
Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have any favourite recipes – share them in the comments. I love trying out new recipes.
Warmly,
Cindy
