Why Sourdough?
From my love of baking fresh sourdough bread for my family sprouted my interest and curiosity to bake loaves made with regionally grown and milled grains. The specialty loaves incorporate grains harvested on the east coast and cold stone milled in North Carolina. With less nutrients lost during the slow rotation process these grains still retain most of their oil, moisture and nutrients resulting in a tastier, heartier bread that's easier to digest and packs more flavor than conventional, store bought bread.
For the love of dough!
My husband initially started making sourdough bread as a fun past time. I slowly started to take it on and after a few years really began to see the importance of eating our own bread and ditching the store bought stuff. Sourdough is a naturally leavened bread meaning the dough is cultured and the trapped gases is what gives it it's rise. The dough proofs for 24 hours and the microbes in the sourdough starter start to eat the sugars in the bread giving off gas in return and giving it it's rise. As a result the bread has that quintessential sour tang and is easier on your digestion compared to yeast risen breads because those microbes have broken it down while it was proofing. After solely eating our sourdough bread I began to seek heartier flours so that our bread was more substantial and fullfilling. I sought out cold stone milled and regionally grown grains however they proved very tricky to work with and some contain a lower gluten content so it become's a challenge to get a good rise. This challenge quickly turned into a passion as I persisted to experiment with the right combinations of flours. As the results kept getting better I began feeling the need to share with our neighbors, friends and family. Please join me as I start this journey and help spread the word with other gluten eating members of our community!
