The Flour You Need For The Quickest Sourdough Starter

Making sourdough is a process that can be incredibly rewarding and seems to be something that people turn to during tough times (like the pandemic). From keeping your starter alive to achieving the perfect crust — every small success counts, while the failures can often teach us something new. Learning from experience is important, but when a bread-making expert tells you which flour to use for your starter, it's probably wise to listen. Nathan Myhrvold, founder of Modernist Cuisine and co-author of "Modernist Bread at Home," explained why rye flour is best for speeding up your sourdough-making process.

"Rye flours have many nutrients that favor the yeast development. A new starter made with rye flour will usually be ready to be mixed into doughs a few days before a white flour starter is." In fact, a rye flour starter can rise twice as fast as one made with wheat flour. The reason rye flour is so efficient is because its nutrients and microbes allow the starter to convert sugars more quickly, which is crucial for making your starter rise.

While Nathan Myhrvold explains that "practically all flours can be used to make a starter," rye flour is an ideal option for many reasons — not just to save time. Rye flour is a great way to improve rye bread's texture. While rye yeast bread is usually dense, the acids produced in sourdough fermentation react with the enzymes in rye flour to produce an airier, lighter bread. Just keep in mind that the texture of a rye flour starter will be much sticker than a wheat flour one.

Using rye flour in your starter will also give your sourdough more flavor complexity, resulting in a tangier and earthier bread. Rye flour has minimal gluten and is high in pentosans, which essentially allow the flour to hold more water, while also increasing the production of acetic acid — which is what gives the bread an additional sour tang. If you don't want overly tangy bread but still want to reap rye's benefits, you can even use a blend of rye and wheat flour for your starter. Either way, it seems rye flour might be the key to a quicker and more delicious sourdough loaf.