Stay Curious

SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AND UNLOCK ONE MORE ARTICLE FOR FREE.

Sign Up

VIEW OUR Privacy Policy


Discover Magazine Logo

WANT MORE? KEEP READING FOR AS LOW AS $1.99!

Subscribe

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

FIND MY SUBSCRIPTION
Advertisement

The Science of Making a Wild Sourdough Starter

The Wild Sourdough Project aims to advance our understanding of yeast and microbes while helping home bakers create delicious bread.

A recently-fed sourdough starter bubbles with activity from natural yeast.Credit: Wild Sourdough Project

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

Citizen Science Salon is a partnership between Discover and SciStarter.org.

By now, you’ve almost certainly heard the news: Homemade sourdough is the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread. Being stuck in quarantine gives many of us more time to do things around the house, like baking. And stores are short on household staples, including bread, so, sure, might as well give breadmaking a try. But why sourdough and not brioche, or a French baguette?   

In terms of ingredients, it rarely gets any simpler than bread. Flour, water, salt and, unless you’re making flatbread, yeast. For many of us, yeast is just something that comes from the grocery store in a little packet or squat brown jar, and looks unsettlingly like fish food when you open it. Along with self-rising flour, prepackaged baker’s yeast disappeared from most grocery store shelves long ago.

Take Part: Make Your Own Sourdough Starter for Science

...

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe
Advertisement

0 Free Articles