Master the art of sourdough: Your guide to homemade bread

Baking bread at home has gained popularity as a way to embrace traditional culinary practices. With increased awareness about food quality, many people opt for homemade sourdough bread. Sourdough, unlike yeast, gives the bread a unique taste and aroma that you won't find in store-bought products. How do you prepare a sourdough starter? The recipe requires only two ingredients, and the process is surprisingly simple.

Preparing a homemade sourdough starter requires little time and patience. Start by gathering the basic ingredients: rye flour or spelt flour and water. The necessary tools are a quart-sized jar and a wooden spoon. The jar must be clean, preferably sterilized, to ensure the proper conditions for fermentation.

Recipe for rye sourdough starter:

Ingredients:

• 3.5 ounces of whole rye flour (type 2000) or 3.5 ounces of whole spelt flour (type 2000 or 3000)
• 3.5 fluid ounces of warm water

Tools:

• Quart-sized jar (sterilized)
• Wooden spoon
• Linen cloth or cheesecloth

How to make a sourdough starter:

1. Day 1: In a jar, mix 1.75 ounces of rye or spelt flour with 1.75 fluid ounces of water until smooth. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Day 2: Bubbles should appear on the surface. Add another 1.75 ounces of flour and 1.75 fluid ounces of water. Mix, cover, and leave it for another day.
3. Days 3-4: Continue feeding the starter, adding the same amount of flour and water daily. Mix well each time and cover.
4. Day 5: The sourdough starter should be active by now, with numerous bubbles, and its volume should have significantly increased. You can now use the starter to bake rye bread or store it in the fridge, feeding it once a week.

Remember, a sourdough starter is a "living" culture and requires regular "feeding." If you don't use it for a longer period, always remember to add flour and water weekly.

Preparing a sourdough starter is a step towards traditional baking methods, offering health benefits and a unique taste. The sourdough starter, a mixture of flour and water, through natural fermentation, enriches the bread with probiotics and reduces gluten content, making it more digestible. Baking bread at home is not only a return to roots but also an opportunity to control the ingredients we consume and incorporate nutritional values you won't find in stores.