My mentor baker told me I was wasting my time with store-bought yeast

I've been baking bread for about 6 years now, always using those little packets of active dry yeast. Last week an old guy named Frank who used to run a bakery in Chicago stopped by my pop-up stand. He watched me mix my dough and just shook his head. He said I was missing out on all the flavor by not keeping a sourdough starter going. I told him I didn't have time for that extra step. Then he pulled a jar of his own starter out of his cooler, gave me maybe a cup of it, and told me to feed it once a day and use it for a week. Man, that first loaf was like nothing I ever made before. The crumb was better, the crust was darker, and the taste had this tang I couldn't get from any store packet. I feel kinda silly for fighting this for so long. Has anyone else made the switch and found it way easier than they thought?

3 comments

3 Comments

samk7711d ago

@logan525 I’ve been using packets for years and my bread comes out fine.

logan52511d ago

Frank's probably been dropping wisdom on people since before I was born (and I'm no spring chicken myself). My first attempt at keeping a starter alive was basically a science experiment gone wrong, pretty sure I killed it within three days by overfeeding it like a neglected houseplant. But once I got the hang of it, the difference in flavor made me wonder why I ever bothered with those little yellow packets in the first place.

harper91411d ago

Did you see that article about the science behind sourdough starters @logan525? Apparently the wild yeast in them adapts to your local environment over time, which is why no two starters taste exactly the same. It took me way too long to figure out that less is more with feeding, but now my bread actually has that tang I was chasing for months.