Do all non yeast bread starters make sourdough bread?

Question

Do all non yeast bread starters make sourdough bread? I've never made bread without yeast. I know sourdough bread is started with sourdough starter, but I'm interested in making bread that is not sour and using a starter to do it.

Answer 1

Traditional sourdough starter is NOT made with those yeast packets.  Commercial yeast wasn't available until the 20th century.  Before that, people made sourdough bread by capturing the wild yeasts in the air and on the environment.  

Anything made with commercial yeast is a hybrid, a levain, a poolish, a biga, etc.  It is NOT sourdough.  Oh you see all these little cheats that add yeast, even from books like the Joy of Cooking.  BUT it is not sourdough.  Sourdough has a fantastic history, it is an adventure to capture the yeasts, to take care of this living entity and see it survive for decades.  It takes work and effort to have a sourdough culture.  That is like comparing a paint by number picture to the Mona Lisa when someone says adding commercial yeast to flour and water is sourdough. ;-)

If you want to learn about making your own sourdough culture, see http://www.squidoo.com/sourdoughstarter .  That lens shows how to make a traditional sourdough and also gives some layman's science behind it all.

Take the time and learn about sourdough.  It is something to accomplish and the satisfaction of baking sourdough bread is wonderful.  You control how sour or bitter the bread tastes by how often and how much you feed the starter.  I prefer a mild tasting bread, so I adjust my starter accordingly.  (You will learn how on that lens).

Wishing you the best, you will really enjoy the adventure of sourdough as long as you put the work into it.. and not do a paint by number.  LOL

Additional info:  Like I said... you can control the flavor of your starter.  Sourdough does not have to be sour at all.  You are probably thinking of San Francisco sourdough bread.  Yeah.. it was developed for that tart taste and the bacteria in that area flavors it.  BUT try a French culture and you won't have sour at all.  In fact it is a bit sweet compared to San Francisco's culture.  Unfortunately, it has been given the name sourdough, but sourdough does not have to taste sour.   You can develop a culture and control the breeding of the bacteria with a lower temperature, then you will have a less tart taste to no tart taste.

There is no way around it.. if you have a culture, bacteria will grow in it, yeast will grow in it.  you have to take control and work with it to develop the flavor you want.  You cannot have a culture without this happening. You cannot just have a starter and expect it not to develop tartness without interference from you.   The only thing you can do is go the hybrid route using commercial yeast and do a preferment the day before you plan to bake if you want the easy way out.  ;-)

Answer 2

You can make all kinds of "quick breads" which don't use yeast or a starter.  Banana, blueberry, cranberry, cranberry-orange, apricot, zucchini, pumpkin, oatmeal, and apple-raisin bran and bran are all various quick breads.

Answer 3

Sour dough starter is started with yeast.