Sourdough. The new popular trend that everyone’s
moderately hipster friend and their cat is
getting into. This mystic method of making
bread that forgoes the common store-bought
yeast has skyrocketed in popularity with the
amount of people stuck at home looking for
things do to. So, what actually goes on in
the sourdough making process? What’s the
deal with sourdough starter? Why is the smell
sometimes described as apples and beer and
other times described as horrendous vomit?
Can I really add sourdough starter to pancakes,
cinnamon rolls, and other flour-based recipes?
(*whispers* yes, you can). My name’s Toucanken
and in this video we’ll be covering the
science of Sourdough.
Now before any of the mixing, kneading, and
shaping of the dough can begin, the baker
at hand must obtain or make sourdough starter.
The starter is a mixture of flour, water,
yeast, and bacteria. The mixture can be bought
online or made at home. The eager chef can
choose to buy readily available starter on
amazon, or the more patient individual can
take on the daunting task of concocting their
own starter. The brave soul will only need
flour and water. The bacteria and yeast will
make their debut from the air in the space
that the flour and water are mixed. I kid
you not. You do not need to buy any yeast
or bacteria cultures. From the initial mixing,
the growing mixture will need to be halved
and fed, at different intervals depending
on the temperature and the general environment,
over the course of a week.
Several fascinating things happen during this
week. As the starter ferments it will begin
to bubble and appear more wet looking. This
is the yeast producing carbon dioxide and
water as it eats the flour. Bacteria also
eat away at the flour and produce lactic acid.
This buildup of acid is what keeps harmful
microbes such as mold from growing by lowering
the pH of the starter. However, if the starter
gets too acidic the yeast will die. Therefore,
the starter has to be continually diluted
to prevent the high acidity from killing the
yeast. No yeast, no bread. The reason why
it has to be diluted over the course of a
week is because, as the starter matures different
types of lactic acid producing bacteria take
over one another while the yeast becomes more
active. The more active the strain of bacteria
and yeast, the better. So, the right combination
of bacteria and active yeast is needed to
be able to bake a nice fluffy loaf of bread.
If everything is going well there will also
be a pleasant slightly acidic smell sometimes
described as fruity or beer like. If something
goes awry the mixture can have an awful smell
If mold or harmful bacteria take over.
After a week’s worth of feeding and diluting
there is a simple telltale sign that the starter
has successfully matured. This is where the
float test comes in. If you can scoop up a
piece of starter, drop it into some water,
and it floats, congratulations! The starter
is ready to go. Therefore, having a very active
mixture of yeast and bacteria is crucial.
There must be enough tiny pockets of air that
aerate the starter enough to make it float.
Passing the float test in conjunction with
a pleasant smell indicates that you can begin
the mixing and shaping.
If you follow any of the many Instagram pages
devoted to baking or sourdough, you will notice
below their pictures of immaculate bread or
video of laborious shaping, there are sometimes
hydration percentages. This refers to the
weight of water mixed with the amount of flour.
A hydration percentage of 100% means there
are equal parts flour and water in addition
to the starter. Sometimes the percentages
look like this and realize that bakers are
not mathematicians. If you break it down to
100% meaning 100 grams. This recipe would
look like 80 grams all-purpose flour, 20grams
organic wheat flour, 20g starter and you get
the idea. More water results in a thinner
and crispier crust. The amounts and type of
each ingredient will vary depending on the
recipe and desired outcome.
After deciphering the recipe and mixing your
dough, there is a specific shaping and folding
process to get the signature sourdough oven
rise. This is achieved by kneading the bread
in such a way that gets the gluten proteins
to wrap around the surface of the bread. This
keeps the air that forms in the bread trapped
as it is baked. The score on the top of the
bread allows the air to escape upward, this
giving the bread a nice rise. If not done
correctly the air will escape every which
way and expand outward to form a bread puddle.
Another component to getting a good rise is
the humidity of the oven. A nice humid environment
will keep the crust from getting too hard
before the oven spring takes place. This can
be achieved by baking the bread in a Dutch
oven or placing a pan of water on a rack below
the bread when baking.
So what are some of the foods can make with
sourdough starter besides bread? Pretty much
most flour based recipes. You can add starter
to recipes to make sourdough pancakes, cinnamon
rolls, muffin, cakes, pretzels, and many other
baked goods that are making my mouth water
as I talk about this.
It’s no surprise that sourdough has recently
risen in popularity when looking at the health
benefits. Sourdough has more protein than
other types of bread with the added bonuses
of being a fermented food. Fermented foods
such as kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and
miso are praised for their many benefits.
Fermented foods are known to be easier to
digest and better support gut health over
their non fermented counterparts. The fermentation
process is thought to also make the gluten
in sourdough easy to digest.
Sourdough is the superior bread case and point.
Thanks you for choosing this sourdough videos
over the hundreds of others on Youtube. Subscribe
for more edutainment. My next video explains
some common chemistry reactions with memes.
You can also check out some of my other videos.
Umm yeah have a great day, bye!!
