What is a “sourdough starter”?

A sourdough starter is a live active culture made of fermented flour and water that is full of beneficial bacteria and yeasts.

It is used as a way to ferment recipes and naturally rise bread.

Why You Will Love Sourdough:

If you are unfamiliar, let me fill you in on all the reasons why crazy folks, like me, go through the effort of handcrafting, and maintaining, a beneficial colony of yeasts and bacteria in their kitchens.

Before yeast was isolated and sold in little packets, sourdough starter was a valuable commodity in homes and families, passed down for generations.

Health Benefits

Have you ever heard of phytic acid? Basically, it’s an antinutrient found in grains, beans, and nuts that interferes with the absorption of certain nutrients. They are present on grains to keep them from spoiling.

There is a reason they are there, but there is also good evidence that our bodies weren’t meant to handle them. Proper preparation of grains eliminates most, if not all, of the phytic acid in offending foods.

This is the very reason traditional cultures soaked and fermented their grains, seeds, and beans. These days, we’ve lost that art. And what have we found? People can’t handle grains anymore.

Instead of using instant yeast packets, people in traditional cultures leavened their bread with a fermented starter that captured all the yeasts in the environment.

AKA Sourdough starter

How on earth do we capture native yeasts? Read on, because I explain how to make your very own starter.