My diet is mostly one of low to moderate carbohydrates, however like many people I love bread. So last year I started my journey to learn how to make my own healthiest bread.
I had already been making my own gluten-free low carb bread, or sometimes baking with yeast too. They were delicious, or at least I thought they were 😊But I decided to try to make sourdough. When I told my friends about it they said that it sounded way too complicated and difficult to make. But actually it was really easy, you only need a little patience and a few failures to make the perfect bread.
First, why did I choose sourdough?
Sourdough is formed by fermentation of lactic acid bacteria, which increases the bread digestibility and improves its nutritional values too. In fact, 118 compounds included branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and small peptides with a high proportion of BCAAs are involved. This is a main reason why after consuming sourdough bread your body’s insulin response will decrease (low blood sugar response). You have a lower glycemic response after consuming sourdough bread.
A mature sourdough starter has a higher impact on the metabolite profile, especially when using rye bread. Phytates, which are known as anti-nutrients, are much less in sourdough bread because the phytates bind to minerals and the ability to absorb them is reduced.
While bread that is made with yeast decreases absorption, sourdough bread can increase our mineral absorption especially of iron, magnesium and zinc. It also contains a higher amount of antioxidants and folate than yeast bread as well. In addition, sourdough bread is low in gluten and prebiotic compounds, so if you have gluten sensitivity this may be a way for you to eat bread without having complications such as bloating.
And of course beside all of these benefits, one of the best parts is that you’re making your own bread at home, with love and joy!
Before I started to make my own sourdough I watched so many videos on YouTube. I was telling myself that there was no way that I could do it, but it really was not hard. I now actually have three different types of sourdough starter — one made with organic flour (I call it “Tweety”), one with ancient grain or einkorn (I call that one “Goofy”) and one with rye (that I call “Smurfy”) 😊
I was a little confused at first when watching the videos as almost everyone showed their own approach. So I put together what was all common with all of them and used this approach to make my sourdough starter:
- Use a clean glass jar
- Change the jar every time for the first week (see the instructions below to see what this means)
- Use warm water at 100–105 degree F
- Use a one-to one ratio (I found this much easier)
- Use quality flour
The steps for making sourdough are:
- Start with 25 grams of flour and 25 grams of water. Mix well and let it sit for 48 hours at room temperature in a glass airtight container.
- On day 3 add 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour. Mix well and let it sit 24 hours.
- On day 4 add 100 grams of flour and 100 grams of water. Mx well and let it sit 24 hours.
- On day 5 take 100 grams of starter (discard the rest) and add 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour. Mix well and let sit 24 hours. I know, I didn’t like to discard it either but you will see better results if you do. If you keep it all then you have to add so much flour…
- On day 6 take 150 grams of starter (discard the rest one last time) and add 150 grams of water and 150 grams of flour. Mix well and let it sit again for 24 hours.
- On day 7, the last day, you can start to use it to make bread! However if you never did before I suggest putting in the fridge at least a week, then when you take it out from the fridge leave it at room temperature before you start to use it for making bread.
Are you interested to see what happens next? How to make bread in the easiest way?
If yes then please message me! And I’d love if you share your experience and your thoughts about having fun making delicious bread!
References:
1 — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12781853/
