Rant: Sourdough starter isn't worth the hype over rapid yeast

I spent 4 months babysitting a sourdough starter last year. Fed it twice a day, kept it warm, named it Fred. The bread came out fine but not life changing. Then I tried a simple rapid yeast recipe from a King Arthur bag and got the same crust and crumb in 3 hours. My family couldn't tell the difference in a blind taste test. Has anyone else dumped their starter after realizing the extra work didn't pay off?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage_moore3715d ago

...that reminds me of when I tried to revive a 3 month old dried starter I found in the back of my fridge and it actually produced a loaf with a weird floral taste nobody at our dinner party could even describe. @gray_morgan probably had the right idea with that proofing box, but honestly even my best sourdough never beat the convenience of just tossing yeast in a bowl and going about my day. Fred deserved better care than I could give him, I guess.

gray_morgan15d ago

I kept mine going for almost a year before I finally dumped it, but I wonder if you're comparing apples to oranges here. Did you actually dial in your starter's rising times and temperatures, or did you just follow the standard feeding routine without adjusting for your kitchen's conditions? It took me getting a proofing box to really see what a mature starter could do versus rapid yeast.

ward.jamie15d ago

Didn't you see that one food science guy's video where he ran tests on like 50 different breads and even experienced bakers couldn't tell sourdough from yeast bread half the time? It honestly made me feel way better about just buying a bag of instant yeast and calling it a day lmao.