Making Sourdough Starter from Commercial Yeast

For the sourdough purists out there, sourdough can only be made from making a wild yeast starter or perhaps buying a dehydrated sourdough starter. For me, making sourdough starter from commercial store-bought yeast is a great way to learn to make sourdough without the finickiness of starting and maintaining a traditional wild-yeast sourdough starter. It’s easy to make and easy to maintain and can also be made from one individual package of yeast which could come in handy if you can’t find commercial yeast in the store as happened in the U.S. in 2020.

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What’s Commercial Yeast?

Commercial Yeast is simply the yeast you buy in the store that we are all familiar with, as opposed to wild-yeast sourdough starter made from yeast in the air, flour, and water. Two types of commercial yeast, active and instant and either one can be used here.

Is It Okay to Make Sourdough Starter from Commercial Yeast?

It’s absolutely just fine to make a sourdough starter from store-bought commercial yeast. I’ve learned a new phrase recently: Your kitchen, your rules. And this applies to making bread, too. Who is to tell you that making sourdough bread has to be made from wild yeast?

Does Sourdough Starter Made from Commercial Yeast Eventually Become Wild Yeast Starter?

I have read multiple times over the years that you can buy or bring back the famous sourdough starter from San Francisco to your home on the East Coast (or anywhere else) and as you use it, it will eventually adapt to the wild yeast in your home and the flavor will change with it. You simply cannot maintain a starter from another region and keep it “pure”. It will attract yeasts from the air in your home and your region. Sounds weird, I know. But if this is the case, then I infer that a starter made from store-bought yeast will also eventually attract wild yeasts and change, as well. That’s my theory. It’s possible that the store-bought yeast is very strong and will dominate wild yeast, but I really don’t know.

Does Sourdough Made from Commercial Yeast taste like Traditional Sourdough?

Yes. It really is all about how long you let your dough rest or ferment. You can use wild sourdough and make a bread that is very sourdough tasting if it doesn’t rise very long. Long-rising sourdough has a distinctly sour taste that comes from lactic acid in the bread.

Does Sourdough Made from Commercial Store-bought Yeast Have the Same Health Benefits of Wild-Yeast Sourdough Starter?

The effects of the sourdough process are the same in both commercial and wild yeasts. When the dough is rising, it is going through a fermentation process. and the health benefits come from a long rise sourdough or a long fermentation time in which the beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus multiply and create the sour-tasting lactic acid among other things. Some of the health benefits of sourdough bread are:

• Rising the sourdough bread for 10-12 hours–or even longer–helps to break down the starches in the bread making it easier to digest.
• It also lowers the glycemic index which means it doesn’t spike insulin as much. (Source)
• People with mild gluten sensitivities are often able to eat long-rise sourdough bread, too, because the gluten proteins are broken down in the process, so long-rise sourdough bread contains less gluten than traditional yeast bread. (Source)
• According to one study, the lactobacillus in sourdough unlocks the B-complex vitamins making them more usable to our bodies, and also increases the fiber of whole-grain sourdough rye bread. You know these bacteria are present if your bread gets that sourdough tanginess with the long-ferment.
• The long fermentation time helps break down phytic acid found in whole grains which helps you absorb the vitamins in the grain easier. (Source)

How to Make Sourdough Starter with Commercial Yeast

I can hear all of the sourdough purists audibly yelling at their screens as they read the title of this post. With all due respect, I’m not writing this for them. I’m writing it for you! For the baker just starting out or the person wanting to make a sourdough yeast starter that can last basically forever with just one packet of yeast. It can be done and you can make healthy bread and baked goods using it for years to come if you want to and if you maintain your starter.

Ingredients:

To make the sourdough starter with commercial yeast, you only need:

• One packet dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• All-purpose flour (or substitute any wheat or rye flour)
• Water

Instructions:

Mix the yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.

• Stir to make sure the yeast is dissolved.
• Add about 1/2 cup flour and mix. The consistency should be like a very thick batter*.
• Keep in a very clean jar or bowl in a warm-ish place. In the winter I might keep it on the stovetop with the stove vent light on. In the summer I keep it in an area that is away from the air conditioner vent.
• Cover with a breathable cover like a towel and a rubber band or string. I like to use a wide-mouth mason jar because it’s easy to stir the starter and easy to cover with a coffee filter and rubber band.
• Feed the sourdough with a heaping tablespoon of flour and about a tablespoon of room temperature water about every 12 hours. You will start to see bubbles and see the starter rising the first day because it already has active yeast in there, but it won’t be sour yet.**
• Continue the twice-a-day feeding. You will begin to notice a slightly sour smell around day five. Keep feeding for a few days after you smell this and the sour smell should get stronger until it smells like true sourdough.
• Around days 7-10, depending on the warmth of your kitchen and the type of flour you’re using, your starter should be good and sour and ready to bake with.

Recipe Notes:

*I have found that the water to flour ratio is not super important. If your starter becomes very runny, add more flour or just add more flour when you are actually making your bread dough.

**I never discard starter as some people do. I haven’t found it to be necessary or beneficial to my starter.

***You can powdered milk–1-3 teaspoons–to your starter to give a boost to the lactobacilli and other beneficial probiotics in the starter.

This is a really cool artisan breadmaking starter kit.

Baking your sourdough bread in a dutch oven can help give it a better rise. America’s Test Kitchen recommends this brand of dutch oven for ease of use and durability, but any cast iron dutch oven will do.

Maintaining Your Sourdough Starter

If you’re using your sourdough regularly, you can keep it on the kitchen counter in the coolest part of your kitchen. I have found that I can slow my feedings to once a day after the starter is established.

If you only use your sourdough starter every week or more, you can keep it in the refrigerator to slow the fermentation process. Here I just feed it once a week. It will develop a dark liquid called hooch which is a by-product of the fermentation and has some alcohol in it. You can mix the liquid back into the starter, but I usually pour it off and add fresh warm water as needed. When you want to use your refrigerated starter, take the starter out about 12 hours before you plan to use it and feed it. Let it sit in a warm place to reactivate the yeast and bacteria. I like to get it out in the morning, make the dough or batter in the evening, and then bake with it the following morning.

Adding Powdered Milk, Milk Kefir or Yogurt to Sourdough Bread

The health benefits of sourdough bread have been studied with traditional wild-yeast sourdough starters, so I can’t claim that all of the same health benefits are here. But most will be. If you want to add more lactobacillus and other beneficial bacteria to your sourdough, make your bread with part or all liquid using milk kefir. Milk kefir is packed full of bacteria good for your digestive system and will mimic these beneficial bacteria found in traditional wild-yeast sourdough bread. If you don’t have milk kefir, you could use unflavored yogurt (which contains beneficial bacteria) or even a little raw sauerkraut juice.

I have also added powdered milk to my sourdough starter at the beginning, especially. I now know that this helps feed the beneficial bacteria in the starter.

What Can I Make with Sourdough Starter?

You can make much more than bread with a sourdough starter! You can make sourdough pancakes and waffles, sourdough English muffins, sourdough crackers, sourdough bagels, sourdough cinnamon rolls, sourdough biscuits and rolls, pasta, and probably much more. This will be very useful if you don’t have other leavening agents like yeast or baking powder. To keep the health benefits, you will want to make the dough for these and let it rest or rise for 8-12 hours. Making your sourdough batter or dough in the evening to bake or cook in the morning is a great way of ensuring a long-rise sourdough.

What If My Yeast is Old?

You can keep and use commercial yeast past the best-by date. You can still use it to make sourdough starter even if it isn’t at its prime because it most likely will still have some active yeast in the packet. The way to find out is to make the starter as described above. If it doesn’t bubble up or is very slow in bubbling, it may just take longer to ferment. You could add a little more of the yeast and see if it helps or just wait it out. If no bubbles form after a day or so, and all of the conditions are right as described in my instructions, then your yeast may be dead.

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