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SOURDOUGH BREAD

True Sourdough Bread is made only using naturally occurring yeasts and other vital components. You just need flour, water, a bit of salt [preferably] , and a starter. That's it!
It is given long, slow rising fermenting periods so that it can develop a characteristic flavour,
and will produce Far Superior Bread.

Sourdough Bread does not necessarily has to be sour, or dense. It is the slow process of all components in the flour, starter and water interacting with each other in a natural fashion, resulting in superior and more wholesome loaves of bread.

[Did you know that true sourdough is classed as a low G.I. Food? Also many bread eaters complaining about bloating and other problems eating bread, find no problems eating true sourdough[5]

True Sourdough Bread NEVER uses (and does not need) commercial yeast, or any other additive for that matter. I've seen "sourdough" breads that are cheap imitations of the real McCoy. The baker typically used additives and flavours to mimic the real thing, and often (a lot of) commercial yeast and other tricks to speed things along.
This approach does not produce loaves that can be classed as "True" Sourdough by any stretch of the imagination, nor do they remotely match the taste sensations you will enjoy, when eating True Sourdough Bread.

Get Started on Your Sourdough Journey HERE!

The True Sourdough method of making bread has been around for 1000's of years!
Briefly the ancient Baker kept a piece of dough and used it to create the "leaven" (rising agent) to produce his next batch.
This process was repeated in perpetuity.

For over 5,000 years, from man's first bread in Egypt to about 100 years ago, all bread was leavened with wild yeast. With the introduction of commercial yeast, the art of artisan baking slowly deminished. The introduction of the "fast dough" process has even further eroded the quality of many baked breads typically available from bakeries and supermarkets.

Artisan Bakers these days use a "culture" or "starter" from which they produce the "leaven" for their next batch. This culture is frequently refreshed with flour and water only, so the Baker always has a ready supply of "starter". The method uses similar principles to the process that makes yoghurt, or the old fashioned way of making ginger beer. Homebakers can quite successfully keep their starters refrigerated, until they're ready to use it

Today's Sourdough Home Bakers do not have to spend a lot of time to produce wonderful bread. Most of the work is done by the "critters" in the starter. All that Home Bakers have to do is some planning and exercise some patience! With an active starter the Home Baker can produce True Sourdough Loaves within 12-24 hours. The actual time involved of physically handling the materials (and cleaning up) could typically be less than half an hour.

STARTER

A Sourdough Starter is flour mixed with water and has an active culture (containing wild yeast[s] and other vital components). It can be purchased in dried or semi-dried form and reactivated by adding flour and water only.

Purchasing a proven good starter, eliminates a lot of variables, and can make your learning curve far less steep.

Alternatively you can try and make your own.

To do so, mix some flour and water in a bowl or jar with a large mouth, let it sit 24 hours loosely covered at room temperature (preferably not in an urban area), then add some more flour and water . Continue doing this every day until you have a yeasty, bubbly mixture. The yeast can be found naturally in the flour but also from the ambient air, but this method often fails for numerous reasons, and can sometimes take a week or longer to produce any results (good, bad or indifferent).

Adding commercial baker's yeast to your new starter is not a good idea. Commercial yeast has been developed for its highly active, quick-rising properties and it is not suited to the slower sourdough process. It could possibly consume all its required nutrients in the flour before anything else can get to it, and probably kill off any natural yeast and other goodies that may be present, that could make up a good sourdough starter.

Adding other ingredients, such as grapes, potato (and a miriad of other suggestions), probably does not help your culture in the long run. Sure there may be yeasts on grape skins, but there is a very good reason why they are there: 'cause they LIKE that particular grape skin. They may not necessarily travel all that well in a bakers flour mixture, and more than likely will be eliminated if and when your sourdough culture becomes more stable. So why bother introducing them in the first place

In your efforts of "capturing", you're not only trying to get a yeast, but also symbiotic (friendly) bacteria that are possibly unique to your own area. It is the "lactobacillus" that can give sourdough bread its special flavour and character. The specific strains of both the wild yeast(s) and the lactobacilli can vary according to where you captured your starter and which flour(s) you used when capturing, giving different starters possibly very different qualities and tastes. For a successful starter, both the wild yeast(s) and lactobacilli need to co-exist in balance (symbiotic) over a long period.

By now we have lost count of the amount of people we talked to, who tried to make their own starter, and failed or were not all that impressed with the end results.
ANALOGY: IF you want to learn to surf, do you spend weeks making a surf board first, or do you get a board that you know should work, and hit those waves learning to tame them?

You may find it much more convenient to use a proven and tried starter Why?, so you know you'll start with a product that actually works and can produce predictable and consistent result.

Each of the Starters available from us come with full culture activation instructions. Provided these instructions are followed closely [1], you should end up with a working starter within days. Once your starter is fully activated, you're ready to start making your sourdoughs.

When your starter has been re-established, and fully active, it can withstand many challenges and "invasions" The symbiotic (friendly) relationships between the wild yeasts and lactobacilli in all of our cultures are very robust (they've been together for quite a while), and will ensure that many possible "competing" elements introduced after, are quickly eliminated. If a culture fails to start, under-performs, or becomes too acidic, follow the instructions on "washing", detailed in the instructions provided. With proper care, your starter should maintain its properties and characteristics indefinitely.

You can keep your starter in or out of your fridge, depending on how often you will use it. Kept out of the fridge your starter should be fed with flour and water at least once a day.
Not unless you plan to bake (almost) every day, it is better to keep your starter in the fridge. In the cool environment the culture becomes semi-dormant, and only needs feeding and replenishment every few weeks or so [3], or when you want to use it. Take it out of the fridge a day before you want to bake and put a small quantity into another jar, and add flour and water only to re-activate your starter. If you end up with too much starter, simply divide it up prior to further feeding, discard or use the excess to make sourdough pancakes or pizza's. [2].

The Sourdough Starters we have available, can be kept indefinitely using either method. This answers a question that we hear frequently: How many loaves can I make out of my starter? The answer of course is:
As many loaves as you will bake for the rest of your life.

Check out our sourdough cultures (starters)

MAKING SOURDOUGH BREAD (using Australian Flours)

There is no one right way of producing good sourdough bread. There are however plenty wrong ways of going about it!

Our Cultures come with full instructions, detailing the whole process, from the initial satchel of culture, to your first fully baked sourdough creation using that culture.

American Flours are routinely blended at the Mill with Diastatic Malt. This is not the case in Australia. Hence US sourced sourdough recipes/formulas may not work quite as good with Australian Flours. Adding Diastatic Malt may fix some of these problems.

ALL Cultures purchased from us include instructions detailing their use with AUSTRALIAN flours. You will NOT get this info, when buying starters from overseas.

Once You baked a few loaves, following our instructions, you're probably ready to start some experimenting with different preparation methods to suit your taste (more/less sour/flavour) and suit your normal daily schedule(s). We soon will have additional information available to guide you in this process.

BRERO WHITE FLOUR and DIASTATIC MALT
There is flour, and there is Flour. Check the pages on our Brero Flour, and Diastatic Malt

TOOLS and CLASSES

On our shopping cart we have many tools and implements available, that can help you make your sourdough creations a little easier.
We are once again planning sourdough specific classes in Brisbane, so stay tuned!

To keep informed about upcoming classes, join our mailing list, and indicate you're interested in sourdough and classes. (If you're already on our mailing list, update your profile via one of our previous emails [click the EDIT MY PROFILE link] at the bottom of the email )

PROVING BOXES

In colder parts of the country, and in winter, you may have a problem proving your cultures and doughs at the temperature you want (need).
Keeping a constant temperature, particularly when re-establishing your (dried) culture, is an important factor [1] Re-activating your refrigerated starter in a constant temperature is also recommended , so you can get consistent results between bakes.

You can go simple or go all the way. I elected to keep it simple and use a large polystyrene box (from my favorite local green grocer) or large eski, a cord + light socket and low wattage globe (20-25W) (or a small desklamp) Hang the globe inside the box, and make sure it's not touching any walls or you may have a problem later! With a folded towel, control the opening of the lid, so warm air can escape. Alternatively, place the lid diagonally, varying the gap as required. Place a thermometer in the box (slightly raised so it is not sitting on the floor, or poke your meat thermometer through one of the walls) This method can control the temperature fairly accurately. Works for me!

One of our customers uses an old (working) bar fridge and an aquarium heating mat with thermostat. He also rigged it to have a cooler environment if he needs it, when outside temperatures are well in the 30's! (NOT good for our critters!) Haven't seen any further details on this yet, but it sounds interesting!

PRE-FERMENTS

Not quite True Sourdough, but getting there.
The preferment method is a technique used by many "old time" bakers up to to 50's and 60's. Part of the dough is allowed to "pre-ferment" over a long period (6-24 hours). Commercial yeast is used as a leavening agent, but no additional improvers or enhancers are required. for more info click here

USEFUL LINKS

There are a number of forums and websites dedicated to sourdough, and many others that touch on the subject. In particular, forums can sometimes be a case of "the blind" leading "the Blind" and are often confusing for Novices, with too many varying opinions on how "things" should be done. Below you'll find some links we feel can give you some genuine information on making your own Sourdoughs.

For Sourdough Novices, it is recommended to follow the instructions provided with our Cultures first, before experimenting with other methods mentioned in links below, or others you may have found. (or you WILL end up with a serious case of too much information!)

Our Own FAQ's We get plenty of Sourdough Questions!
Many of them are answered in this FAQ
danlepard.com A site put together by Bakers, for Bakers. Their forum is frequented by well known bakers identities, including Dan himself, who often chips in to lift a veil or two.
sourdoughhome.com Mike Avery, an affable US sourdough baker, put together this site with heaps of practical information.
thefreshloaf.com US based bakers forum, with a sourdough section. Worth a look!
Sourdough FAQ May answer some of your initial and other questions; a nice reference

Don't forget, we're only an email [4] away if you have any questions about working with the starter[s] you bought from us, or any other questions about sourdough.

Last, but not least, welcome to the wondrous world of True Sourdough, and remember: look after your Starter(s) like they are an old friend, and you will be rewarded multiple times over!

Happy Sourdough Baking,

Roland Bok

Notes:
[1] You will only have to re-establish your dried culture once. Allow a little TLC for a few days, and follow our instruction closely. [Briefly: Feed satchel with flour and water, wait 24 hours, repeat, once activity is noted repeat sequence every 12, then 6 hours]
- Your starter is at its most vulnerable between being (semi) dried and its first fully active state. Maintaining a constant temperature of 25-30C greatly helps in succesfully (and quicky) re-establishing your dried culture. (see proving boxes paragraph).
- Once your starter is up and running, you can have a friend for life. It now can withstand many challenges, and can be used at a range of temperatures.
[2] When I first started my journey in Sourdough, I was very hesitant discarding any of my "liquid gold". I soon came to the realization that refreshing and replenishing your starter frequently is actually beneficial to your starter. Rather then discarding excess starter, use it as a base for sourdough pancakes, crepes or pizza's (delicious!) [recipes here soon!]
[3] You can leave our starters untouched in the fridge for up to 6 months. By then it will take (much) longer to re-activate your starter and possibly require a "wash" first. If you can, refresh your starters (at least) every month or so. Label your jar(s) with dates of last refresh.
[4] We prefer to answer any of your sourdough questions via email. At times we may not have the time when you phone in for advice, and help you with your question(s) adequately.
In an email, we can offer you much more detailed advice than over the telephone.
[5] If you're a diagnosed ceoliac, sourdough is not for you, unfortunately! If in doubt, consult your health practitioner!