SOURDOUGH
Source of Recipe
Food Reference
SOURDOUGH
A sourdough starter is basically a method of growing yeast.
The starter is a flour and water mixture—a basic unleavened dough—that serves as a medium for growing either commercial yeast that is added to the mixture or the ever-present wild yeast that is “captured” by the mixture from the air we breathe .
(Yogurt is also sometimes added to provide yeast).
This mixture is allowed to “sour” through a fermentation process that produces a gas and an acid. It is then used as a “starter” to leaven other breads: the gas produced by the fermentation is trapped in the elastic gluten structure of the dough, causing it to rise, while the acid imparts the final product with a tart flavor.