So what is a Sourdough starter?

When I first stumbled upon the sourdough phenomenon, I didn't really understand what it was. I understood that it was a living culture of yeast in flour that you maintain on a regular basis and that you somehow used this this to make bread, but that was it. My mind was full of questions.

• Why not just use packet yeast?
• Where does the yeast in sourdough come from?
• When you buy pre-cultured sourdough starter, where did THEY get the yeast from?
• What do you mean it comes from the air? Why don't you end up with airborne nasties growing instead? 
• How can I do this myself without buying any specialised product?
• Who discovered this process?

It was with some of these questions in mind that I decided to jump in at the deep end and try growing a starter from nothing. You can learn about this attempt here. This really taught me that yes, you can nurture these microbes yourself and yes, you can nurture the nasties too ;)

It was more recently that I discovered this video by Gnowfglins that really clarified the basic biology that is occurring when creating a sourdough starter.

Yes, you can do this from airborne beasties, but the trick is doing it using flour-borne ones instead. Using a good wholewheat/rye flour that has not been overly processed will, hopefully, ensure that you have a good starting colony of microbes to get your starter going.

It was also during this video that I learned about the presence of bacteria and not just yeast. That's right, this is a symbiotic relationship between yeast and bacteria. It's the bacteria that actually give the sour taste. Well Maybe I should have thought of that sooner!

So ultimately what we have is a mixture. Firstly we have naturally occurring yeast that feeds on the free sugars in the yeast and produces CO2 and Ethanol. Secondly we have some Lactobacillus Bacteria (LABs) that create Lactic acid to give the sour taste. Both of these microbes, along with others, are naturally present on grains. The exact strain or species depend on the grain in question; this is why we have regional differences in Sourdough bread, most famously SanFrancisco Sourdough which has its own blend of yeast & LABs due to the crops and climates of the area.

Many recipes for creating a sourdough starter cheat. When I say cheat, all I mean is that they use a more readily available source of yeast and LABs. Some recipes suggest using other forms of produce like berries or other plant parts that have more microbes present than grains do. Yet other recipes ask for you to use commercial breadmaking yeast. Though these methods will work and result in a lively colony, you are not selectively breeding the correct yeast for the job - the yeast that naturally occurs in harmony with the LABs

That said, sometimes the flavours imparted by different strains of yeast can result in interesting flavours of bread, so don't rule out starting a starter with other natural products. I do have issue with recipes asking you to start with commercial yeast product however, as it kind of defies the point of creating this artisan bread.

Sourdough Starter take 1

Shortly after I discovered the science in sourdough, I just had to see it to believe it(I do this all the time, it drives my wife crazy ;) ). The particular science that fascinated me was the fact that these yeasts we wanted just existed all around us and that we can breed them if needed. I just had to try this so I grabbed some old flour,  threw in some water and followed a feeding schedule. To my delight, it came to life. I never intended this to be an eater so was not diligent about the feeding schedule. As a result, it got a little stinky after a while and I had to dump it. Science experiment over, but I came out of it knowing that I need to revisit this one day.
Note that this was before I had even tried a decent sourdough loaf as I was still 'discovering' better junk loaves. I had successfully switched to what seemed like a nice flax seed multigrain loaf.
Once I discovered that beautiful sourdough taste recently, there was no turning back.

My bread discovery

I have always liked bread.
When I was a child, I was one of those 'fussy eater' types. As a result, my parents had a terrible time trying to get nutrition into me. In the end, I settled into a life of peanut butter and marmite darned with margarine and mass produced white bread. This staple has been a major part of my diet for over 30 years, yet in that time I never discovered what I now consider to be 'good breads. Even spending 7 years in Munich, I refused to try the local breads and insisted on eating the crappy white sliced loaves on offer there.
Finally in my late 30s I have started discovering nice breads. In particular I have discovered a nice sanfrancisco sourdough bread that I have fallen in love with.
That said,.attempting bread baking is not all that new to me; while in Munich I tried a bread once. It was not the worst loaf I have made, burnt *was* inedible. It was a plain white loaf and it was super bland and had no structure. I also did not follow a decent recipe.
Next up was a few years ago, another non recipe bread. I forget what it was like but it was a fail.
Throughout my short bread journey so far I knew one thing; I did not want to just make packet bread in a bread machine and I did not want to just follow a recipe. I wanted to LEARN how to bake bread. It is such a simple thing, yet baking a nice loaf seems so far out of reach to me. I guess I want to be an artisan?
To this end, I stumbled on the subject of sourdough and the starters. This subject interested me as being able to make something from nothing(I.e. no preprepared yeast product) fascinates me.
It was with this in mind and my almost empty history of bread making that has set me along the path of bread discovery. I want to learn how to bake yummy soft flavorful healthy loaves: )