After 10 years of using instant yeast I finally tried a sourdough starter and the flavor difference in my sandwich bread was night and day.

What convinced me was a customer at the farmer's market who said my loaves tasted 'flat' compared to the bakery down the street, so I spent 2 weeks building a starter from scratch and now I won't go back to packets for anything but pizza dough - has anyone else noticed how much more complex the crumb gets with a natural leaven?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_grant1d ago

Man, I felt that whole "flat" comment in my bones. I had the exact same wake up call about three years back when a regular told me my bread was good but it just didn't have any depth. That sourdough starter is a whole different animal. I stuck with it for a solid month before I really got the hang of it, but once I did, the difference in the crumb and the smell was crazy. Now I keep a jar of instant yeast in the back of the fridge for emergencies, but that's it. The natural leaven just brings out a tanginess you can't fake with packets.

jamie_white1d ago

Hang on, I'm gonna push back a little. I've been baking for over a decade and my instant yeast loaves come out HUGE with amazing oven spring and a crust that cracks like crazy. That "depth" people talk about is just a different flavor, not necessarily a better one. I can get a tangy, complex flavor by just doing a long cold ferment with my regular yeast, and it's way less fussy than keeping a starter alive.