What is sourdough or long-fermented bread?

Sourdough bread is one of the oldest recipes for bread. It is believed to be healthier and tastier than traditional bread. Overall, a long-fermented bread is an old form of bread leavening. It requires a mix of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, rather than baker’s yeast.

Also, sourdough bread is considered one of the healthiest bread recipes due to the numerous potential health benefits:

• It is easier to digest, as fermentation is longer.
• It might better digestion and gut health.
• It is more nutritious than any store-bought bread, as it has a high content of antioxidants and essential nutrients.

How to make long-fermented bread at home

A long fermentation bread takes between 8 to 15 hours to make. It requires no kneading, and you will need a little yeast or sourdough starter. The best recipe for making long-fermented bread goes as follows.

#1 Making a natural yeast starter

Use one cup of flour and one cup of water. Add the ingredients in a wide-mouthed glass jar, mix them, and cover with a natural fiber cloth. Make sure jar or container is big enough as the starter is ready when it doubles in size. Leave at room temperature for 4 to 8 days. After a day or two, you’ll notice some bubbles. When the starter is ready, it will be crusty, wrinkled, and moist. Also, it won’t bounce back if you poke it. You can keep the starter in the fridge and keep on feeding it once a week. Here is a detailed recipe how to make sourdough starter.

#2 Making long-fermented bread

For long-fermented bread you can either use your own starter, or just a teaspoon of yeast. Any flour will do! It’s not that much work, but you need to leave the bread on the kitchen counter to ferment … How much flour and water you need it highly depends on flour type, but in general make in more liquidy as the “regular bread”.

Let’s say around 3 cups of flour (0.5 kg ~ 1lb) and 1.5-2 cups of water, ¾ teaspoons of sea salt, and follow the steps:

1. Mix the starter/yeast with salt and water and gradually add the flour.
2. Mix the ingredients until they get smooth – you can use a wooden spoon, no need to touch the dough and do not knead it!
3. Put the dough in a bowl and cover it. Leave it to ferment for 8-12h – nothing wrong if you’re late, you can leave it to ferment longer (all the way up to 24h). The dough will rise, make sure the bowl is big enough.

You’ll notice bubbles within few hours…

4. When the dough has risen, turn on the oven at 220 ºC/425 F, and put in the tray you gonna use it for baking. We need the tray to be hot! Preferably the glass or ceramics one with the cover, but if you don’t have it, others will do too.
5. Meanwhile, take some flour and take the dough out from the bowl and shape it into bread. Remember, do not knead!

6. Let the bread rise a bit more until the oven is hot.
7. Take the hot tray out from the oven (be careful) and put the dough there. You don’t need to use fat or baking paper since the tray it’s hot the bread won’t stick to it.
8. Bake for 30 mins with lid cover at 220 ºC/425 F.
9. After 30 mins take the lid off, and bake for another 20-30 mins (depending on the flour) at 200 ºC/ 390 F.

Long-fermented bread from full wheat and buckwheat flour

It is typical for this bread to have a crack on the top, crunchy crust and soft inner part. The crust is harder just after baking if you prefer it softer wrap the bread into cloth just after baking.

The bottom line

Sourdough and long-fermented bread is the best alternative to conventional bread. It is more nutritious and more comfortable to digest, being the perfect option for anyone. Long fermented bread is easy to make, and it doesn’t require much work (fermentation aside And the best part about it is simply yummy and your kitchen will smell amazing!

The post Making Long Fermented Bread appeared first on Food Converter.

Why grow sprouts at home?

Sprouts are germinated and soaked seeds, grains, or nuts. These are rich in beneficial amino acids, vitamins, and enzymes. And the best part about sprouting at home is that they are simple to grow straight in your kitchen. Make your own garden in a jar!

Some of them like lentils or chia you can just pick from your shelf, while other you’ll need to get seeds from the store. Make sure you buy organic or those that are not ment to be for “massive” gardening as those might be treated with some chemicals – you definitely don’t want that on your plate.

Some of the seeds you can use to grow sprouts are:

• Alfalfa
• Broccoli Seeds
• Red Clover Seeds
• Lentils
• Mung Beans
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds
• Chia Seeds

What do you need to grow sprouts at home?

Sprouting is a simple and straightforward process. You will need equipment created for such purposes, such as sprouting trays. Also, you will require:

• A wide-mouth quart-size clean and sterile jar
• A sprouting lid or cheesecloth and a rubber band
• A box or bowl to aid the jar stand upside-down
• Organic sprouting seeds for the best results

Some of the seeds and sprouts are more demanding than another. Most of them will grow well in a big jar. Make sure the jar is clean, and before sprouting in them, make them sterile (oven at around 200 ºC for 20 mins will do good). It’s easy for mold to start growing, and you’ll have to throw all the batch away …

How to grow sprouts

Soak your seeds overnight

Firstly, soak sprout seeds overnight – or at around 6-8h. Make sure you position the sprouting screen in place and screw on the canning ring. Add around two cups of non-chlorinated water. Afterward, swirl the seeds, drain and cover with an extra 2 to 4 cups of water. 

Rinse and drain seeds

In the morning, drain the water and rinse and swirl again. As soon as you make sure your seeds are drained well, put them in a bowl, and allow the jar to lay upside down. 

Keep on Washing them 2x Day

It is highly recommended to pour water through screens at least two times per day (morning and evening). Swirl, and drain well after returning the seeds in your bowl. Each day your sprouts will grow more! This process can take between 3 to 7 days, depending on the seeds. 

Store sprouts

When you feel like your sprouts reached the perfect greenness and length, you can store them in the refrigerator. It is best to store them as dry as possible. Overall, sprouts last up to five days if drain adequately. 

Enjoying sprouts

Sprouts are best served on sandwiches, mixed with greens as a salad, or as a soup topping. 

What are the benefits of growing sprouts?

Sprouts are a superfood, which you can quickly grow straight in your kitchen. And the best part about sprouting is that they have numerous health benefits. Some of these include:

• A boost in digestive and metabolic processes, as sprouts are rich in dietary fibers.
• An increase in blood flow due to the high content of iron and copper.
• A losing weight ally, as sprouts can inhibit the release of a hunger hormone called ghrelin.
• An increase in the immune response, as sprouts are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds and vitamin C.
• Improvement in eye health due to the rich content of antioxidants and vitamin A.
• A decrease in skin problems due to the high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

The bottom line

Sprouting at home can be both fun and useful. All you have to do is get the equipment mentioned above and start taking care of the seeds. Keep in mind that the risk of cross-contamination in sprouts is slightly high. The living enzymes might turn out to be dangerous for health if you don’t clean your hands and jars. You can avoid such issues by purchasing organic nuts, grains, and seeds for sprouting. 

The post Growing Sprouts at Home: Here’s Your Beginner Guide! appeared first on Food Converter.