Yeast Doesn’t Fly and Your Sourdough Probably Isn’t That Special
What we’ve learned so far in the home baking era
Sara May threw away her Covid-era sourdough starter on July 7. She had named it Dave Startley, after the The War On Drugs bassist Dave Hartley, but May, a hospitality professional and writer, neglected him for a few weeks during a move from Philadelphia to Ithaca, New York. Dave’s surface turned black. She cried when he hit the bottom of the trash can.
Only a few months into a sourdough craze that left grocery store shelves naked of flour, interest in homemade, naturally leavened bread appears to be waning. But a monthslong food media blitz espousing the ancient practice of starter cultivation was enough to cement some dubious notions and outright fallacies about naturally leavened bread.
A monthslong food media blitz espousing the ancient practice of starter cultivation was enough to cement some dubious notions and outright fallacies about naturally leavened bread.
Sourdough starter is a functioning ecosystem of yeast, bacteria, flour, and water. And while it’s clear how the last two elements enter that ecosystem, internet how-tos often misleadingly instruct…
