The “Family” History of Sourdough
For around 8 years in my house there has been a large repurposed tomato sauce jar filled with a bubbly substance that migrates regularly from the fridge to the kitchen counter. This mystery jar is actually quite beloved in my house–it helps make delectable sourdough!
For a couple generations in my family sourdough starters have become a household must have. They make it easier than ever to make homemade sourdough loaves and countless other sourdough delicacies such as crackers, scones, biscuits, and focaccia. Over the years my mom and grandmother have perfected their process of sourdough making–it’s a tedious process with thousands upon thousands of different ways to achieve “the perfect sourdough.” My mom was slightly reluctant to share her tried and true recipe but after some convincing she was equally as excited as me to publish this beloved family recipe. However, for the sake of my grandmother’s protectiveness over her recipe I will just share a generic one off the web! Luckily I was able to stop over at my mom’s house to bake a batch of sourdough with her and catch myself back up on all the specifics of the sourdough process.
The “History” History of Sourdough
The origin of sourdough goes way way back to ancient Egypt somewhere around 1500 BC when sourdough was most likely created by accident! By leaving bread out yeast spores from the air can insert themselves into the bread and produce a fluffier and lighter texture than the unleavened bread that they had before. With this realization, they then eventually figured out that by keeping a portion of the dough, they were able to make sourdough over and over again from the same piece of original dough. Behold the birth of the sourdough starter!
Sourdough has passed through many countries and cultures, gaining a spot as a staple food all over the world. As its traveled in been made in many different ways and the sustainability and resourcefulness of the bread has become more and more known. Because sourdough starters can be made from two simple ingredients, their rate of sustainability is pretty high. By using local whole wheat flour, your bread is already as sustainable as it can be!
An Egyptian hieroglyph depicting sourdough being eaten.
Sourdough Starters
The simple process of sourdough starts off with the bubbly substance I mentioned a bit ago–a sourdough starter! The mixture contains only two ingredients that I’m sure you have stashed in your kitchen: water and flour. Of course there are some more intricate details to being successful with your starter however the following link is a great source for guiding you further into your sourdough starter quest.
A sourdough starter looks something like this!
Everything You Need to Know About Sourdough Starter.
The only tricky part of your starter is the caring for it every once in a while, its alive after all! Yes, that’s right, it scientifically is alive and needs to be fed and looked after like any other living thing. With proper maintenance your sourdough starter can live as long as you’d like for it to–now lets get going and get into the doughy details of this sourdough recipe!
My mom and I started off this sourdough baking day just me and her but not long after we started measuring out ingredients for a few loaves we figured it’d be even better to phone up my grandma. She is my mom’s mom who passed down the love of sourdough (and our beloved sourdough starter) to my mom and I but the tradition of sourdough was sent in motion long before my grandmother. These starters enabled people to use natural yeast produced within the water and flour mixture to created leavened bread, which would usually have to require the use of dry yeast which can only be used once. This ability to turn water and a simple ingredient into yeast and eventually into bread was a turning point especially for immigrants from Europe throughout the past centuries, like my own ancestors who came from Wales. My grandmother adores telling the story of how my great great relatives came from Wales so many years ago and brought recipes with them that we still eat in my family to this day. I do have a difficult time pondering how our sourdough recipe made its way from Wales and all the way to America and now into my mouth so many years later!
Lets get to the baking!
Ingredients
- Sourdough Starter
- Bread Flour
- Water
- Salt
Now put it all together!
Keep in mind that this process takes around 24 hours so setting your sourdough schedule will pay off!
- Feed sourdough starter 8-12 hours before you plan to mix up the dough, feed your starter.
- Mix the dough. Using your hands mix/knead the dough in a bowl twice 15 minutes apart
- Leave the dough to rise overnight. Cover your dough and let it rise overnight, 8-14 hours at room temperature out in the open of your home
- Form into your desired shape. Check your dough after 8-14 hours have passed, and once it has doubled in its size, knead accordingly and shape. Place in a lined or oiled bowl so that it does not stick. Store your loaf in the fridge for an hour while the oven preheats to 475-500 degrees along with your dutch oven.
- Place & score. Remove the preheated dutch oven out from the oven and place your loaf in, lifting out by the parchment from the previous steps, and carefully place into your dutch oven.
*Don’t worry if you don’t have a dutch oven! Your sourdough will be just fine toughing it out in the oven on a simple baking pan!
6. Bake on 475-500 for 20-25 minutes. Remove lid, lower heat to 45 degrees and bake 15 more minutes, until your loaf displays a golden color, despite what you’d think, you will want it darker than expected.
7. Enjoy your freshly baked sourdough!
Bibliography
Chin, T. (2020, May 28). How to make a Sourdough starter. Serious Eats. Retrieved October 1, 2022, from https://www.seriouseats.com/sourdough-starter
Estrada, J. (2021, October 6). Everything you need to know about Sourdough starter. Bread & Basil. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.breadandbasil.nyc/sourdough/sourdough-starter
How to make sourdough starter. Food Network. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/baking-guide/yeasted-breads/how-to-make-sourdough-starter
Siepmann, Ripari, V., Waszczynskyj, N., and Spier, M. R. (2018). Overview of Sourdough Technology: from Production to Marketing. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 11(2), 242–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-017-1968-2
Timms, J. (2021, August 21). The history of sourdough: The rise of sourdough bread. You Knead Sourdough. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.youkneadsourdough.com.au/blogs/sourdough-stories/the-history-of-sourdough-the-rise-of-sourdough-bread
Blog by Lauren Johnson