Knowra Sourdough Sourdough Sourdough is bread leavened by yeasts and lactic acid bacteria living in fermented dough. Their activity produces carbon dioxide, acids, and flavor compounds.
Sourdough starter : A culture of flour, water, yeasts, and bacteria used to ferment and leaven sourdough. It supplies the microorganisms that ferment each batch of sourdough dough.
Wheat flour : A powder made by milling wheat kernels, used as a principal ingredient in many breads. Its starches feed fermentation, while its proteins help form dough structure.
Proofing (baking) : The final rise of shaped dough before baking, during which fermentation continues. Proofing determines how much sourdough expands before its structure sets in the oven.
Ancient Egyptian bread : Bread produced in ancient Egypt, where archaeological evidence includes loaves and baking installations. Fermented dough was used in ancient breadmaking, though its methods differed from modern sourdough practice.
Unleavened bread : Bread made without an agent that causes the dough to rise substantially before baking. It contrasts with sourdough’s reliance on microbial gas production.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae : A yeast species used in baking and brewing that produces carbon dioxide by fermenting sugars. Its fermentation gas helps create sourdough’s rise and open crumb.
Water activity : A measure of how much water in a material is available for microbial growth and chemical reactions. Hydration changes how readily sourdough microbes access nutrients and multiply.
Bulk fermentation : The first fermentation period after dough ingredients are mixed and before the dough is divided or shaped. It develops gas, acidity, and dough strength in sourdough.
Baker's yeast : Commercial yeast preparations used to leaven dough, commonly dominated by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Its predictable, rapid fermentation differs from maintaining a mixed sourdough culture.
Straight dough method : A breadmaking method in which ingredients are mixed together without a separately fermented pre-ferment. It avoids sourdough’s maintained culture and extended fermentation.
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