What is sourdough?

Sourdough is a culture of yeasts and beneficial bacteria that occur naturally and will thrive in bread doughs. The yeasts are more varied and less concentrated than baker’s yeast, so they raise the dough more slowly. The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) also require many hours of fermentation to work their wonders. You can read more about the microbial makeup of sourdoughs here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough

We use the term sourdough interchangeably to refer to the starter culture, the bread and the process of working dough in this way. It is an entire category of different breads. Both the science and the philosophy of this process captivates bakers all over the world with its inherent beauty. The process can be applied to leavened breads and pastries of many styles and at Small Food Bakery, we only leaven our products naturally in this way.

Why do we only bake using Sourdough and not industrial yeasts?

Most simply, we love the slow, magical transformation during the process of baking sourdough, and the mindful yet technical challenge of this way of baking compared with baking breads made with industrial yeasts.

Aside from that, Small Food Bakery is opposed to the industrialization of our food system and as such does not want to take part in it. Commercially produced yeast is therefore problematic for us. It relies on the cane and beet sugar industries, and its production is highly concentrated, with 5 companies holding up to 80% of the worldwide market for dry yeast as of 2006. Dry yeast is exported over long distances and mostly sold in the developing countries. Wet or fresh yeast used in industry is from (slightly more) local facilities, but still, a single wholesaler provides 90% of the liquid yeast market in the UK (2006). A sourdough culture by comparison, can be made by anyone. Its not possible for an individual or corporation to own the rights to do it, and at the same time it belongs to all of us. This is a fundamental building block of an equitable, fair and sovereign food system.

How do you create and maintain a sourdough culture?

If you mix a paste of flour and water, leave it in a warm place and then every 12 hours, you add more flour and more water at ratio of 20% paste, 50% new flour, 40% water and keep it warm, the microbial activity will increase.. After 7 days, your culture will be evident in the form of bubbles and acids and you have made a viable sourdough starter that will leaven your bread.

keep your quantities low. We suggest working with 10g paste, 25g new flour, 20g water, discarding the old paste each day to the compost, or using it for pancakes.

Any good sourdough baker will happily gift you some of their sourdough starter, which you can then take home and ‘feed’ to keep it healthy until you want to bake.

For more information on building, maintaining and understanding your sourdough culture, check out these links:

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/7-easy-steps-making-incredible-sourdough-starter-scratch/

https://www.sourdough.co.uk/getting-a-sourdough-starter-going-from-scratch/

For some great bread recipes and free tutorials, check out these links.

https://www.riotrye.ie/common-loaf/

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/beginners-sourdough-bread/