Sourdough vs. Yeast Bread.

Per request, I will do a post on what makes sourdough different from yeast bread.

This is my pet blob. Yes, this is what sourdough starter looks like! This is the stuff that makes sourdough special.
To make this, you let flour sit... and rot in warm water. After a couple of days, you discard most of the little bowl, and add equal parts flour and water. This bacteria created is then sort of "trained" into acting like a leaven. I'm not too sure about the microbiology of this process, but I know it works!
I'd say the main difference between sourdough and yeast bread, apart from the leaven they use, is that sourdough undergoes a step in the baking process called "bulk fermentation."

This is a FOUR HOUR rise! About every half hour, I give the dough a "turn," meaning that I fold the dough over itself, creating air pockets. In this long rise, the bread develops a really amazing flavor, and the gluten in the wheat binds in a different way, creating the typical texture we know from sourdough.

Bread that uses yeast rises much more quickly than that of sourdough, so the long bulk fermentation is not needed. This means te flavor is under developed, and the texture is completely different. As a baker, I find that sourdough is much more satisfactory to bake, but that may just be because the entire process takes about 8 hours. Man, is it a labor of love.

I wrote a whole paper for my english class on sourdough vs yeast bread, and how the industrial revolution played a huge part in that; I think I can post that to this blog if people would like. If there are still questions out there, please feel free to ask! I love comments!