Sourdough bread: local loaves, gluten free sourdough and keeping it fresh

A good loaf of sourdough bread needs only flour, water, salt and time. If you love a crusty loaf or you shop gluten free, here's how to tell real sourdough from the rest, the local and gluten free loaves we stock, how to keep bread fresh longer, and how to bake your own.

What makes sourdough bread sourdough?

Most bread rises with commercial yeast, a single strain that works fast. Sourdough bread rises with a sourdough starter instead: a living mix of flour and water that carries wild yeast and friendly bacteria. The wild yeast makes the bread dough rise, and the bacteria give it that gentle sour taste.

Because a starter works more slowly than commercial yeast, a sourdough loaf takes many hours, often a day or more, from mixing to baking. That long, slow bulk fermentation is where the flavour comes from: a mild tang, an open, chewy crumb and a deep golden crust. Many people also find long-fermented bread sits well with them, and a real sourdough has a short ingredient list.

Local sourdough from Birdies Bread Co.

Birdies Bread Co. is a locally owned and operated Nova Scotia bakery that focuses on naturally leavened bread made with locally grown grains. There's an Austrian stone mill right in the shop, so the whole grain flours they mill are as fresh as flour gets, with all of the bran, germ and endosperm kept in. We're proud to carry their loaves, and every one of them is vegan.

The Country Sourdough is the everyday loaf: unbleached hard white flour with a little Acadia and rye flour, and salt. The Seeded loaf adds black and white sesame, fennel, flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Oat Porridge is made with 30% porridge for a soft, moist crumb, and Currant and Coriander is the one to toast for breakfast.

Birdies also makes a sourdough pizza dough. Because it's naturally leavened, it doesn't need time to rise at room temperature: use it straight from the fridge, or give it half an hour on the counter to make it easier to stretch. One ball makes two medium thin-crust pizzas or one big one, and if you won't use it within one to three days, freeze it.

Birdies Bread Co.Sourdough Pizza DoughStretch it by hand on a well-floured counter, never with a rolling pin, and bake on a very hot stone.Shop →

Flour, water, salt and time. That's all a good sourdough loaf needs.

Gluten free sourdough and gluten free bread

Can sourdough ever be gluten-free? Yes, when it's made with gluten free flours. A gluten free sourdough starter is fed with flours like brown rice flour instead of wheat, and the dough uses a flour blend of rice flour, buckwheat flour, sorghum flour or millet flour, often with psyllium to hold it together.

Aidan's Gluten Free makes a fermented gluten free sourdough loaf and sourdough bagels, with a natural sour flavour and a hearty, chewy crust. Schär Deli Style Sourdough is built on a rice-flour sourdough with buckwheat, rice and sorghum flours and psyllium fibre. It's high in fibre, sliced extra-large for sandwiches and good straight from the bag, no toasting required.

Schoolhouse: an Atlantic Canadian gluten free bakery

Schoolhouse Gluten Free Gourmet is an Atlantic Canadian gluten free bakery. The Potato Millet Bread bakes up tall and fluffy with a real-bread texture, doesn't need toasting and won't crumble. The Molasses Seed Bread is a classic Maritime molasses brown bread take on it, full of seeds. Both are yeast-free and nut-free, and they contain lactose.

The Grain Escape: grain-free, gluten-free and low FODMAP

The Grain Escape goes one step further: its bread, buns and bagels are grain-free as well as gluten-free, and they're paleo, low FODMAP, plant-based and non-GMO. The White bread is soft and fluffy, the Seeded loaf is studded with crunchy seeds, and the plain bagels have a bouncy bite. If you're looking for low FODMAP bread in Canada, this is the one we point people to first. Our low FODMAP foods guide covers the rest of the shop.

How to store and freeze sourdough bread

A crusty sourdough loaf keeps better than most bread, but how you store it makes a big difference. Here's what we do.

1. Keep it at room temperature. Store a crusty loaf cut side down on a board, or in a paper or cloth bag, for two to three days. Plastic softens the crust.
2. Skip the fridge. The fridge makes wheat bread go stale faster. The exception is Schoolhouse Potato Millet Bread, which keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for a week.
3. Slice, then freeze. If you won't finish a loaf in a few days, slice it, put it in a freezer bag with the air pressed out, and freeze. Take out only what you need.
4. Toast from frozen. Frozen slices go straight into the toaster. To refresh a whole loaf, warm it in a hot oven for a few minutes.

Making sourdough bread at home

If you'd like to bake sourdough yourself, start with an active starter. You can make one from scratch with flour and water, but a dried starter saves you a week or two of waiting.

Wild Root Dehydrated Organic Sourdough Starter is made in Nova Scotia from just organic wheat flour and an active bacteria culture. It waits in the cupboard until you're ready. Follow the pack to rehydrate it, then feed it over a few days, with equal parts flour and water by weight, until it's bubbly and doubles in size. From there you can keep it going for years, for loaves, pizza dough, pancakes and crackers.

Wild RootDehydrated Organic Sourdough StarterTwo ingredients, made in Nova Scotia, shelf-stable until you wake it up.Shop →

A simple sourdough bread recipe

This is a classic beginner's loaf. Weigh everything: a kitchen scale is far more accurate than cups for bread baking.

1. Mix. In a large bowl, stir the starter into the water, add all the flour and mix until no dry flour is left. Let the dough rest 30 minutes, then add the salt and squeeze it in.
2. Bulk fermentation. Cover and let the dough rise at room temperature for 4 to 8 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. In the first two hours, do a set of stretch and folds every 30 minutes. It's ready when it has grown by about half and looks airy.
3. Shape the dough. Tip it onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a tight round. Place it seam side up in a floured bowl or banneton lined with a tea towel.
4. Cold proof. Cover and put it in the fridge overnight, 8 to 16 hours. The cold proof builds flavour and makes the dough easier to score. It's also what makes a sourdough baking schedule fit around work.
5. Score and bake covered. Heat the oven and a Dutch oven to 250°C (475°F). Turn the dough onto parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or bread lame, and lower it into the hot Dutch oven. Bake covered for 20 minutes at 230°C (450°F) for good oven spring.
6. Finish uncovered. Remove the lid and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is deep golden. Let the finished bread cool for at least an hour before slicing.

No Dutch oven? Bake on a preheated baking stone or cast iron skillet on the middle oven rack, with a pan of hot water on the rack below for steam.

For the whole grain part, One Degree's sprouted spelt flour has a mild, slightly nutty flavour, and its sprouted khorasan flour makes rustic breads with a richer result. Both are wheat, so they contain gluten. Luminate Co is home to Atlantic Canada's largest all-organic bulk station, so you can also bring a container and fill up on flour, including our organic gluten free all-purpose flour. Our guide to bulk shopping at Luminate explains how it works.

Baking gluten free sourdough

Wild Root is a wheat starter, so it isn't for gluten free baking. A gf sourdough starter is usually made from brown rice flour and water, fed daily the same way. Gluten free dough is wetter and more like a thick batter than a bread dough you can knead, and an overly sticky dough is normal. Psyllium husk gives it structure, and most bakers proof it in a loaf pan or banneton and bake it covered in a Dutch oven. Our gluten free grocery starter list covers the rest of a gluten free pantry.

Questions we get a lot

What is so special about sourdough bread?

It rises with wild yeast and bacteria from a starter instead of commercial yeast, over many hours. That slow fermentation gives sourdough its tang, chewy crumb and crackly crust, with just flour, water and salt in the loaf.

Is sourdough bread healthier than regular bread?

Many people prefer it: a real sourdough has a short ingredient list and a long fermentation, and plenty of people find it sits well with them. For more fibre, choose a loaf made with whole grain flour, like Birdies' stone-milled flours or a seeded loaf.

Is there a downside to eating sourdough bread?

Wheat sourdough still contains gluten, so it isn't for anyone who needs to avoid it. And real sourdough takes a long time to make, so local loaves can sell out; ask at either store.

Which sourdough breads are gluten-free?

Aidan's Gluten Free Fermented Sourdough Loaf and Bagels, and Schär Deli Style Sourdough, are made with gluten free flours. Birdies' loaves are wheat sourdough.

What is the best flour for gluten free sourdough?

Brown rice flour is the usual base for a gluten free starter. For the loaf, a flour blend of brown rice flour, white rice flour, sorghum, buckwheat or millet flour with potato starch, plus psyllium husk to bind it, works well.

Is The Grain Escape bread good?

If you eat grain-free, paleo or low FODMAP, it's well worth a try. It's grain-free, gluten-free, plant-based and non-GMO, and soft enough for everyday sandwiches.

Where can I buy The Grain Escape bread?

At both Luminate Co stores, and online for delivery or pickup. We carry the White, Seeded and Whole Wheatless loaves, hamburger and hot dog buns, and plain and cinnamon raisin bagels.

Local and gluten free bread is at both stores: 486 Starboard Drive in Bedford and 590 Portland Street in Dartmouth, open seven days. For more gluten free staples, see our gluten-free shelf. If you love fermented foods, see our guide to kefir and yogurt too. If you'd rather bake your own, our gluten free flour guide covers blends, binders and holiday baking. In HRM, order by 11 am with Luminate Express for same-day delivery, or choose pickup. Anywhere else in Canada, orders over $80 ship free.

Sources: The Grain Escape; product labels and listings.