Sourdough Products

Sourdough bread has truly become a new worldwide fad in recent years. This fermented bread has gained in popularity because of its nutritional content, artisanal appeal, and sustainability. Sourdough is made from a starter composed of flour and water and sometimes yeast that is "fed" for several weeks until it has fermented long enough to make bread and related baked goods. It's simple and cheap to maintain sourdough starter, which makes homemade sourdough appealing for families who go through lots of bread. The fermented nature of sourdough bread provides nutritional qualities that are lacking in many other types of bread. It also tastes great and the starter can be used to create hundreds of other types of baked goods.

Getting Started with Sourdough Bread: Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starter is made by combining measurements of flour and water (and, depending on the recipe, sometimes yeast) that produces a natural, yeast-like leavening agent for breads and baked goods. It's recommended that starter be made in a clear jar (such as a mason jar or canning jar) so that you're able to keep track of the starter's growth over time. After combining flour (whole wheat or rye is advised to start, but all-purpose or white flour works too) with water and mixing well, the starter sits covered loosely at room temperature to begin fermentation. Each day, portions of the starter mixture are discarded and flour and water are added so that the starter continues to ferment and grow.

After 7 to 14 days, the starter is ready to bake with, depending on its visible qualities, which most recipes will help you look for. The sourdough starter is supposed to be fed regularly so it can stay fresh and ready to bake with anytime you crave a loaf of bread. Depending on when you're planning to bake with it again, it can stay in the fridge until several hours before use. Because it's added to consistently with the same flour and water mixture, it's a cheap, healthy, and simple way to have bread always on hand. Many people don't have to buy store-bought bread and instead switch to making homemade sourdough bread only.

Starter Here, Go Anywhere!

There are many types of sourdough bread recipes out there that can all be made with the same simple starter. Some sourdough recipes have you feed the sourdough starter with certain types of flour depending on what you're making, while others can be made with standard whole wheat or all purpose flour that you're using to feed it anyway. No knead sourdough bread is a common recipe for beginner sourdough bakers that hardly requires any extra ingredients or work. There are also recipes for gluten free sourdough bread that involve gluten free flour. Other types of sourdough bread include rye, multigrain, oat, and honey that all begin by using the same basic sourdough starter and simply step up the original recipe a notch. Homemade sourdough bread opens up endless options for bread baking, not to mention lots of other baked goods involving sourdough starter.

Practically any bread-related baked good involving rising or yeast can be made using sourdough starter. Though it's arguably most common to see sourdough used for a standard bread loaf, sourdough can be used to bake other bread items like baguettes, French bread, foccacia, dinner rolls, hamburger buns, pretzels, pizza dough, flatbread, and naan. That's a long list, but its not exhaustive - there's lots more! Sourdough can be used to make a variety of breakfast breads and pastries such as bagels, English muffins, donuts, croissants, scones, muffins, crumpets, danishes, and even pancakes and waffles. Pumpkin bread, banana bread, and zucchini bread are often seen in many households - and yep, you guessed it, they can all be started with sourdough base. Cookies, brownies, sweet breads, pop tarts, puff pastry, noodles, biscuits, crackers, stuffing, cake, bread pudding, and tortillas round out just a crumb in the proofing basket of the many recipe options you have to make with sourdough bread starter. Just like with the typical sourdough loaf, all of these foods will have similar nutritional properties as the original bread recipe since they are made from the same starter. Get a grain of that!

Sourdough Baking Tools: The "Proof-en" Essentials

What tools are helpful for baking sourdough bread? We're glad you asked. Making sourdough is generally a simple process that uses simple ingredients and simple tools - and yet, having some specific gadgets in your kitchen will be helpful to your sourdough bread baking career. Making sourdough starter requires nothing more than flour and water, and a clear jar with a cover. A linen cloth, thin towel, coffee filter, plastic wrap, or a loosened jar lid can all work well for covering your starter so that it effectively ferments. A kitchen scale is recommended for measuring ratios and specific amounts of your sourdough ingredients, although measuring cups and spoons will work just fine too. Here's some of our favorite measuring cups and measuring spoons that have built-in levels to get the most accurate measurements if you're not into weighing all of your ingredients. These are the basic sourdough tools required for making starter.

When it comes time to actually bake sourdough bread, there are other tools that are necessary in addition to the tools used for making sourdough starter. Mixing bowls, bread pans, bread knives, parchment paper, and cooling racks are some of the more standard, common household baking items that are typically on hand in most kitchens. A dough scraper can be helpful to make sure no bits of bread dough get left behind in the mixing bowl when making your recipes. A Dutch oven is sometimes used in sourdough bread recipes to achieve an even crust on your loaf. A proofing basket (banneton basket) helps support sourdough dough as it rises and maintain its shape - here are some of our favorite proofing baskets! A bread lame is used to score bread just before baking, allowing it to expand and develop a nice crust. Whisks specifically designed for bread dough (like this Danish dough whisk) are helpful to make sure your sourdough ingredients get fully combined. A Danish dough whisk is especially great for sticky dough that otherwise would cling to your utensils, since the design of the whisk keeps it from getting caught in the metal coil.

We love sourdough here at Kooi Housewares and carry all of the necessities to help you get started on your sourdough journey too!