What is sourdough?

Around 6000 years ago, the Egyptians discovered that a fermented mixture of flour and water would make bread dough rise. Today we know that this is due to yeasts and bacteria, living in the flour and water, which “fart” bubbles of carbon dioxide.

Since ancient times, bakers have saved part of each batch of dough and used it to make the next batch rise. The saved portion is known as a starter, leaven or baker’s wort.

Red Beard’s wort was created thirteen years ago from wild yeast harvested from potato skins – a traditional Scottish technique. The friendly bacteria Lactobacillus, commonly found in milk and yoghurt, also live in our wort, producing lactic and acetic acids.

The acids give the bread a rich and complex flavour, sometimes with a sour tang.  Commercial baker’s yeast cannot survive in the acidic environment; only wild yeasts can.

The term “sourdough” was first used during the Californian and Yukon gold rushes in the 19th century, when starters from San Francisco were found to produce bread with a unique tang. Later the miners themselves were known as sourdoughs.

Recently, sourdough has come to mean simply:
bread made with a traditional starter.