WHAT IS SOURDOUGH BREAD?
SOURDOUGH BREAD IS BREAD THAT IS LEAVENED WITH A CULTURED, NATURALLY OCCURRING YEAST THAT LIVES IN THE AIR AROUND US. THIS CULTURED YEAST IS CALLED A SOURDOUGH STARTER.
THERE IS MORE THAN JUST YEAST IN THIS STARTER HOWEVER; THERE ARE ALSO LACTOBACILLUS BACTERIA THAT COLONIZE THE STARTER. THESE BACTERIA LIVE IN A BALANCE WITH THE YEAST AND THEY ARE CRITICAL FOR DEVELOPING THE FLAVOR PROFILES IN THE SOURDOUGH BREAD AS WELL AS CONTROLLING THE YEAST’S DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH.
FERMENTATION OF A LOAF OF SOURDOUGH BREAD IS ACTUALLY QUITE A COMPLICATED DANCE OF SCIENCE, WITH INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES HAPPENING IN THE DOUGH AS THE COMPONENTS ALL DEVELOP TOGETHER INTO THAT DELICIOUS LOAF OF BAKED GOODNESS.
INITIALLY, WE START WITH FLOUR AND WATER, COMBINED IN THE HOPE OF PROVIDING A HAPPY HOME FOR AIRBORNE YEAST AND BACTERIA. IF IT IS SUCCESSFULLY COLONIZED, THE YEAST AND LACTOBACILLUS BACTERIA DEVELOP AND GROW. THE YEAST AND BACTERIA EAT SUGARS THAT ARE PRESENT IN THE FLOUR. AS THE BACTERIA CONSUME AND METABOLIZE THEIR FOOD, THEY CREATE LACTIC AND ACETIC ACIDS, WHICH MAKE THE STARTER MORE ACIDIC, OR SOUR. AS THE STARTER BECOMES MORE ACIDIC, THE YEAST SLOWS DOWN ITS RATE OF GROWTH.
WE THEN TAKE A PORTION OF THE STARTER, AND USE THAT TO INNOCULATE A NEW BATCH OF STARTER BY ADDING IT TO A LARGER QUANTITY OF FLOUR/WATER MIX. THIS IS HOW WE GROW THE STARTER INTO PORTIONS LARGE ENOUGH TO CREATE A BATCH OF DOUGH. WE FEED THE ORIGINAL STARTER MORE WATER AND FLOUR, MAINTAINING IT FROM DAY TO DAY, AND YEAR TO YEAR.
THE STARTER THAT WILL BE USED IN THE BREAD IS GROWN UNTIL IT IS VERY ACTIVE AND FEISTY AND EAGER TO GET TO WORK. MOST SOURDOUGH BAKERIES GROW AND USE THEIR STARTER AS SOON AS IT IS READY. WE GROW OURS MORE SLOWLY OVER A 3 DAY PERIOD; THS ALLOWS MORE FLAVORS TO DEVELOP IN THE STARTER AS A BYPRODUCT OF FERMENTATION, AND CONSEQUENTLY A DEEPER FLAVOR PROFILE IN THE BREAD.
HOW IS OUR BREAD DIFFERENT?
OUR SOURDOUGH IS MADE FOLLOWING THE SAME BASIC METHODS THAT HAVE BEEN USED FOR MILLENNIA. FLOUR AND WATER ARE COMBINED WITH THE STARTER WHICH IS A CULTURE OF YEAST AND LACTOBACILLUS BACTERIA THAT HAS BEEN CRAFTED TO PROMOTE FERMENTATION IN THE DOUGH. PLAIN SALT IS ADDED TO CONTROL THE RATE OF FERMENTATION, WHICH LETS US CONTROL THE STRUCTURE OF THE INSIDE OF THE LOAF AS IT FERMENTS, GROWS, AND DEVELOPS.
IN ADDITION TO GROWING OUR STARTER FOR 3 DAYS INSTEAD OF JUST 1, WE USE A LONG FERMENTATION BEFORE OUR BREAD IS BAKED. THE STARTER HAS BEEN GROWING FOR 3 DAYS AND IS FULLY MATURED WHEN WE ADD IT TO OUR WATER AND FLOUR IN THE MIXER.
OUR FLOUR IS MILLED IN DENVER, FROM WHEAT THAT HAS BEEN RAISED IN COLORADO. SOMETIMES GLYPHOSATE IS LEGALLY USED TO “DRY DOWN” WHEAT TO EXPEDITE HARVEST IN MARGINAL CONDITIONS, BUT THAT IS EXPENSIVE, AND IS NOT NEEDED IN COLORADO, SO COLORADO WHEAT FARMERS SIMPLY DON’T DO THAT.
WE NOW BUY OUR WHEAT IN LARGE ENOUGH QUANTITIES TO GET IT DIRECTLY FROM THE MILL TO THE BAKERY, AND AS A RESULT WE CAN GET UNBLEACHED AND UNBROMATED FLOUR THAT HAS NOT BEEN “ENRICHED” WITH FOLIC ACID AND OTHER ADITIVES.
THERE ARE REALLY ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS IN OUR SOURDOUGH BREAD: WATER, WHEAT FLOUR, AND SALT (AND STARTER, MADE WITH MORE WATER AND WHEAT FLOUR).
READ ON IF YOU ARE BREAD-CURIOUS…. (I MEAN- REALLY, THERE’S A LOT OF SCIENCY STUFF COMING NEXT)
IN THE MIXING PROCESS THE WATER, FLOUR, SALT, AND STARTER ARE ADDED TO A MIXER AND KNEADED. THIS DEVELOPS GLUTEN BY MECHANICALLY ADDING OXYGEN TO THE DOUGH.
THE 2 MAIN AMINO ACIDS THAT FORM THE PROTEIN IN WHEAT ARE GLUTENIN AND GLIADIN. THESE AMINO ACIDS HAPPEN TO HAVE A FEW SULPHUR ATOMS HOOKED ONTO THEIR MAIN CHAIN OF CARBON ATOMS, AND THESE SULPHUR ATOMS ARE IN TURN ADORNED WITH A HYDROGEN ATOM.
AS WE KNEAD THE DOUGH, AND INTRODUCE OXYGEN INTO THE MIX, THE OXYGEN “STRIPS” SOME OF THE HYDROGEN ATOMS FROM THE SULPHUR ATOMS AND FORM WATER, AND THE SULPHUR ATOMS BEGIN TO LINK (WITH STRONG DISULPHIDE BONDS) TO OTHER “LIBERATED” SUPLHUR ATOMS ON OTHER AMINO ACIDS, AND BEGIN TO LINK TOGETHER TO FORM A CONNECTED NETWORK OF AMINO ACIDS.
THIS IS THE HOW THE FORMATION OF GLUTEN HAPPENS. THIS NETWORK OF GLUTEN TRAPS THE CARBON DIOXIDE THAT IS PRODUCED BY THE YEAST AS THE BREAD FERMRNTS, WHICH ALLOWS THE BREAD TO RISE.
AFTER WE KNEAD THE DOUGH, WE LET IT FERMENT FOR AN HOUR OR SO. THEN WE DIVIDE THE DOUGH INTO INDIVIDUAL LOAF PORTIONS AND LET THEM REST FOR ANOTHER HOUR. AT THAT POINT WE ROUND AND SHAPE THE LOAVES, PUT THEM ON A PAN, AND PUT THEM INTO WHAT WE CALL A COLD-PROOF OVERNIGHT. THIS IS WHEN THE MAGIC HAPPENS.
AS THE BREAD FERMENTS OVERNIGHT, DIFFERENT ENZYMES COME INTO PLAY. SOME ENZYMES ARE MORE ACTIVE AT A LOW pH (MORE ACID) , AND SOME ENZYMES ARE LESS ACTIVE AT A LOW pH. BY THE WAY, OUR SOURDOUGH IS NATURALLY FERMENTED TO A pH OF 4.1-4.3 BEFORE WE BAKE IT.
THE PROTEASE ENZYME IS ONE THAT IS ACTIVE AT A LOW pH, AND IT BREAKS DOWN PROTEINS. SINCE PROTEINS ARE WHAT MAKE UP OUR GLUTEN STRUCTURE, AS THE LOAVES FERMENT, THE GLUTEN NETWORK DEGRADES AND GLUTEN IS REDUCED. IT IS A BALANCING ACT WITH CRITICAL TIMING TO GET THE BREAD INTO THE OVEN BEFORE TOO MUCH OF THE GLUTEN BREAKS DOWN, BUT STILL HAS ENOUGH TO GETTHE LOAVESTO RISE INTHE OVEN. THIS IS WHY OUR LONG-FERMENTATION SOURDOUGH IS EASIER TO DIGEST, ESPECIALLY FOR FOLKS WHO HAVE SOME SENSITIVITY TO GLUTEN. IT IS NOT GLUTEN FREE, AND CERTAINLY NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM CELIAC ISSUES, BUT MANY PEOPLE FIND THAT OUR BREAD IS SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN ENJOY WHEN THEY CANNOT EAT OTHER BREADS.
ANOTHER ENZYLE IN THE BREAD IS AMYLASE, WHICH BREAKS DOWN STARCHES INTO SIMPLE SUGARS. AMYLASE DOES NOT LIKE A LOW pH OR ACIDIC ENVIRONMENT. AMYLASE CAN USUALLY NIBBLE AWAY AT THE COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES IN THE WHEAT FLOUR, WHICH GIVES THE YEAST SOME SIMPLE SUGARS TO EAT AND MAKE CARBON DIOXIDE WITH. WE NEED SOME OF THAT TO HAVE FLUFFY BREAD. WHEN THE LOAF GOES INTO THE OVEN AND THE DOUGH WARMS UP, THE COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES TEND TO “UNWIND” AND LENGTHEN, OPENING THEM UP TO BEING BROKEN DOWN INTO SIMPLE SUGARS BY THE AMYLASE INTHE DOUGH. HOWEVER, AMYLASE CANNOT REALLY WORK WELL IN AN ACIDIC ENVIRONMENT, SO WHILE IT WANTS TO LIBERATE SIMPLE SUGARS FROM THEIR LONG CHAIN PRECURSORS, IT REALLY CAN’T. THAT’S WHY OUR SOURDOUGH HAS A LOWER GLYCEMIC INDEX OF AROUND 0.4 INSTEAD OF THE 0.7 IN OUR REGULAR YEASTED BREADS, SO YOU DON’T EXPRIENCE THE SUGAR DUMP YOU GET FROM REGULAR BREAD.
In addition to sourdough bread, Bred offers a variety of pastries, cakes, and croissants, serving both wholesale and retail customers. Their pastries are a must-try and a standout favorite at the Steamboat Farmers Market, where they consistently draw crowds for their exceptional flavor and quality.