When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, I couldn’t find active dry yeast or instant yeast anywhere. It’s not like the stores were out of bread, but I had extra time and wanted to bake. No yeast meant I was extremely limited on what I could do in the kitchen. Then a friend offered to give me some of her sourdough starter, and like many other people in lockdown, I found myself with a baking hobby. A few days later, I made my first loaf of sourdough bread.
Why Sourdough Bread
Sourdough is great because you don’t need to buy more. It’s not like you need to go to the store and buy it over and over again. It’s also great because it’s arguably healthy. According to Healthline, it’s easier to digest than other types of bread, and it’s unlikely to cause your blood sugar levels to spike.
Sourdough Is Like a Pet
There are drawbacks to sourdough baking. For starters, the lady who gave me the starter warned me that it’s kind of like having a pet. We even named ours. Like a pet, you have to feed it. Really. Every day, you discard some of the starter (that doesn’t mean throwing it away; there are tons of great recipes that call for sourdough discard) and mix in some water and flour.
If you’re not going to do a lot of baking, you can opt to store the starter in the refrigerator and feed it about once a week. Then it’s ready when you need it but, you don’t have to eat a loaf of bread a day to keep up.
My Sourdough Bread Hobby Is Here to Stay
I think the reason sourdough became so popular during the pandemic is because, like me, a lot of home bakers couldn’t find yeast anywhere. I think it is going to remain popular because once you try it, you’ll realize just how easy it is to work with and how delicious it truly is.
Here are a few of my go-to recipes:
Have you ever tried baking with sourdough starter? What new hobbies did you start during the pandemic?