How do sourdough starters work? Why are bakers talking about it as if it’s alive and would walk on its own?

Question

How do sourdough starters work? Why are bakers talking about it as if it’s alive and would walk on its own?

In: 2

Answer 1

The sour of sourdough comes from lactobacilli bacteria that ferment sugars into lactic acid. Like most breads that rise, sourdough typically also has yeast in it. A sourdough starter is a stable culture of bacteria and yeast that contains the desired bacteria and yeast for sourdough, living off of flour and water – basically a very wet dough that you keep in a jar to maintain a source of bacteria and yeast. So it is very much alive, it has to be ‘fed’ periodically with new flour so that the bacteria and yeast will maintain a stable population.