When it comes to artisan-style breads, it comes down to two important aspects: the ingredients and the process. And in both, an ingredient such as sourdough can play a vital role. Clearly this hasn’t gone unnoticed by bakers, since around the globe, one of seven bread launches have been made using sourdough (Mintel, 2019).
Sourdough, that involves fermenting flour with natural flora, is a traditional bakery ingredient and has been around for thousands of years. Natural flora is typically made up of lactic acid bacteria, as found in yogurts and wild types of yeast. This mixed fermentation has a hugely positive effect on the complexity of the bread’s flavour and makes sourdough a key ingredient to achieve artisan, rustic style characteristics.
The flavours of sourdough vary based on the sourdough’s flour type, fermentation time, temperature, processing and their microbial starting culture. Not only does this make sourdough a very complex ingredient, it also means there are unlimited flavour varieties. This provides you with an opportunity to create differentiating, signature flavours that can enrich every type of baked good.
