Make your own sourdough

Sourdough is a rising agent used in baking which contains lactobaccilus culture or in other words which is made using airborne wild yeast bacteria to form a starter. Sourdough is used for in baking rather than use of a commercially produced yeast.


Bread in Cyprus was for generations made using sourdough in earth ovens. Apparently use of sourdough makes baked goods have a distinctive flavour, bread has more air bubbles and baked goods will last longer before going stale.


Sourdough is surprisingly easy to make by putting a few tablespoons of organic flour in a jar and stirring in enough warm water to make a thickish paste. The mixture is then covered and placed somewhere warm but not too hot to develop. The mixture may take up to a week to form sourdough and all you need to do is just stir it occasionally. Eventually, little bubbles will form throughout the mixture and your sourdough will be live. 


Once you have successfully made some sourdough. feeding it will keep it alive. Stir the sourdough, then add enough flour and water to double the volume and place it in the fridge. Cooling the sourdough will slow the rate at which the yeast consumes food. Every time it stops bubbling, feed it again and if you find that your sourdough is getting too much either use some or reduce it's volume. If the jar looks a bit unsightly change it and your sourdough will stay alive for years.


Happy baking. Off to start a sourdough batch now.