Did you know there is a science behind all this baking???

This week my daughter and I jumped on the Sourdough starter bandwagon...we figured sourdough is probably our favourite type of bread next to a good italian loaf of any kind, so why not. Since its been trending it has definitely been on our minds. We even had a family member that is a chef and at the beginning of all of the closures delivered to us a delicious loaf of homemade sourdough that didn't last more than a day in our house. 

We have watched and nurtured our sourdough starter all week and it has started to ferment quite well, we should be ready to try baking a loaf in the next couple days. As you go along you are supposed to discard some and we even found a few recipes to use the discarded portions...today we enjoyed some yummy crumpets. 

A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other day..."When did eating bread come back and what's with all the sourdough??" funny to see all the comments. Yes there are definitely a lot of us baking and specifically now baking bread. To be honest we are trying not to bake too much of anything, but really home baked goods of any kind are so much better than any snacks we can buy in the stores...so why not. 

Then I came across this article today in the Globe and Mail from earlier last month "The science behind why everyone is suddenly baking bread" It makes sense...they talk about how in times of stress and uncertainty we all "covet creature comforts" and what is more comforting than fresh baked goods...especially a home made loaf of bread. The ingredients are cheap, easy to store...although during this pandemic may not be as easy to find. To read the full article check out the following link: the Globe and Mail

Here's where the science of it all comes in:

“Eating carbohydrate foods like bread stimulates insulin, which raises the uptake by the brain of the essential amino acid, tryptophan,” says Harvey Anderson, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. “Tryptophan in the brain increases production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that promotes calm and sleep in times of stress. So enjoy your fresh bread, just don't eat the whole loaf at one time.”

Here's the recipe we used for our Sourdough starter but you really can use any they are all pretty much the same...so simple and so easy and we used white flour since we didn't have Pumpernickle or whole wheat... just takes a little longer. Be sure to find a way to use your discard, there are so many great ideas from crumpets like we did, pizza dough, cake etc etc. 
 
So looks like we will be eating bread...but homemade bread without any preservatives....that makes it good right! Let us know on our facebook page or instagram what you are baking these days? What kind of comfort foods make you feel good? Did you jump on the sourdough wagon like we did?

We found another great article to help all of you out there Alice's Kitchen the Ultimate Guide to Sourdough Bread.