You don't have to buy yeast to make bread, you can make it yourself. This natural yeast is called sourdough.
Sourdough bread is very different from yeast bread. Not that it's more useful, it's just different. The most important difference is its aroma and taste, and all this is the merit of the leaven.
Everyone who makes sourdough bread will have its own special taste. It's simple, during the growth of the starter culture bacteria get into it from your hands and from the air around. This gives the starter its own individual aroma and taste. And all the personality of the leaven is transferred to the bread. Such aroma and taste cannot be achieved with nutritional yeast.
I will cook the sourdough with peeled rye flour, but you can also make it with wheat flour. The main thing is that the flour is whole grain. Wheat flour of the highest grade or extra class is refined and does not contain bran and other elements that are important for the growth of the starter culture. Let's cook!
Step-by-step recipe for making bread sourdough
Ingredients:
- Rye flour 410 g
- Water 410 g
The first day
In a liter jar I mix 100 grams of rye flour, 100 grams of water and mix until smooth. Close the lid and leave for 24 hours at room temperature.
The ideal temperature for the growth of the starter culture is 20-22 ° C. I put the starter in a cold oven there, I always have about this temperature. And most importantly, there are no drafts there.
Second day
A day later, the leaven hardly changed in volume. I leave 100 grams of sourdough in the jar, throw away the rest. I add water and flour to the sourdough, all 50 grams each, and mix until smooth. I leave it for 24 hours.
Day three and four
These days I repeat the procedure of the second day. My leaven showed good growth already on the third day, but if you cook it from wheat flour, you probably won't notice much difference.
Day five
I leave 50 grams of sourdough in the jar, throw out the rest. I add 75 grams of water and flour each, mix until smooth. I put it in a cold oven for 24 hours.
Day six
You will notice that the starter culture has grown well and is starting to bubble, as it should. I leave only 30 grams of sourdough in the jar, add 85 grams of flour and water each, mix. I leave it for a day.
Day seven
This is the final day of leaven growth. By this day, it took me almost the entire can (I cooked in a 500 ml can, although it is better in a liter). The leaven is ready and can be used to make bread (I'll leave a link to the simplest leavened bread at the end). Now let’s tell you what to do next with the leaven.
How to feed the starter culture
I bake sourdough bread 2-3 times a week, so I feed it as follows. For 1 gram of leaven, I add 2 grams of "food", where 1 gram is flour, 1 gram is water. I wait for the leaven to reach its peak, rise and fill with holes, and put it in the refrigerator. This sourdough is convenient because it can be used immediately, even while it is cold.
This is one of the feeding methods that is convenient for me. But there are several more, I will not paint them. If interested - write in the comments, I will make a separate article on this topic.
- Recipe - how to make sourdough bread without kneading