Category: Sourdough

Sourdough bread is fabulous. It is not only delicious, but also much more digestible than fast yeast bread. And if there is an acute shortage of yeast, you can still bake your own bread.

Ich liebe es.

The making of sourdough is in fact super easy. Flour is mixed with water and left in a warm place for a few days. It catches the wild yeasts from its environment.

Initially, a large number of microorganisms develop, but eventually lactic acid bacteria predominate. Yeasts also survive, as they tolerate acid well. The yeast is responsible for the formation of carbon dioxide, while the lactic acid bacteria produce lactic acid, which is what gives the sourdough its taste. In the process, the lactic acid bacteria metabolize the sugars that the yeast cannot utilize, while the yeast processes the by-products of lactic acid fermentation.

These are the fundamental biochemical changes that occur during sourdough fermentation, the acidification of the dough by lactic acids and the rising by carbon dioxide.

This mixture of flour, water and living microorganisms is called starter (or starter culture) and is the basis for inoculating the main dough.

Personally I avoid gluten as much as possible, but I can eat sourdough bread without problems. This is because the bacteria break down the gluten due to the long process of fermentation of the dough.

Süssen Sauerteig ansetzen

Hermione, the sweet sourdough

In Deutschland ist Hermann, ein süsser Sauerteig, wohl eine der verbreitetsten Formen des Sauerteiges. Er wird aus Weizenmehl hergestellt und meistens zum Kuchenbacken eingesetzt. Seit den 70er Jahren wird er wie ein Kettenbrief weitergegeben. Um 1980, der Zeit der deutschen Friedens- und Ökologiebewegung,…

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Fermented apples

Fermented apples

In den osteuropäischen Ländern Ukraine, Belarus und Russland sind sie als frisch-köstlicher Snack bekannt und seit dem frühen Mittelalter sehr beliebt – fermentierte Äpfel. Während der Sowjetzeit wurden sie massenproduziert und für den Verkauf populär gemacht. Nach dem Zusammenbruch der UdSSR, als…

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Hamburg black bread

Hamburg black bread

Hanseatic city of Hamburg, ahoy! Hamburg brown bread made from rye with oat grains is the bread of my childhood and my hometown, I grew up with it. Unfortunately, it has not been sold in bakeries for a long time - at least not in the quality that I...

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Livieto Madre

Lievito Madre

I have been baking fabulous breads with Dirk, my rye sour, from pure rye flour as well as mixed breads from rye with wheat or oats for years. I can't complain about a lack of diversity. Pizza or rolls, however, I like best of all from pure...

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Sauerteigbrot Ben

Rye mix bread with sourdough

I got this recipe from the fabulously creative Ben from the field laboratory. In June 2020, we baked sourdough bread together at Ben's action PIXEL Brot Backen via Zoom and ate a snack together in the evening with our freshly baked bread. There were Hamburg...

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