The readiness of a sourdough starter, for baking or otherwise, depends greatly on the age (hours since refreshment) of the starter in it's perpetual cycle of refreshment. Here's a little diagram of this cycle which we will explore in the text below:- How old is your sourdough starter? Your starter cycle begins at hour zero… Continue reading When is a sourdough starter ready?
Tag: Wild Yeast
Drying and Storing Sourdough Culture
One of the great things about writing a guide, especially a "how to guide", is learning through doing and then writing about it. A good example is drying and storing a sourdough culture. I've read numerous times about the concept of drying and storing sourdough culture, and indeed have seen dried sourdough culture for sale,… Continue reading Drying and Storing Sourdough Culture
Sourdough Culture – What’s in it?
One of the questions I am exploring as part of writing a guide on Sourdough cultures is "what is in a typical sourdough culture?" Magic? No. Micro-organisms? Yes. Lots of micro-organisms; numerous strains with long latin names. But broadly speaking there are two micro-organisms - wild yeasts (the "yeasties") and bacteria (the "beasties"). Although an over… Continue reading Sourdough Culture – What’s in it?
A little about yeast
Yeast. It's a microscopic fungus that makes Bread rise. Yeast eats sugars naturally present in the flour, and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide raises the dough and forms the crumb; the alcohol evaporates in the oven. There's lots of types; with lots of different Latin names - the one type most used… Continue reading A little about yeast
doughies 