Book 9, Question 62
Why Does Sourdough Smell Tangy?
Sourdough smells tangy because bacteria in the starter make lactic acid and vinegary acetic acid.
Sourdough smells tangy because wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria ferment the dough! They make acids and complex aromas. Tang is fermentation's signature.
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Quick answers
What lives in a starter?
A starter can hold more than 20 kinds of yeast and 50 kinds of bacteria.
Where do they come from?
The wild yeast and bacteria come from the flour itself.
Sources: Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine
More fun facts
- A sourdough starter is a live culture where yeast and bacteria feed on the sugars in flour.
- Bacteria in the starter make lactic acid and vinegary smelling acetic acid, which give sourdough its tang.
- A starter can hold more than 20 kinds of yeast and 50 kinds of bacteria.
- The wild yeast and bacteria come from the flour itself.
- Scientists studied 18 sourdough starters made by bakers around the world to see which microbes lived in them.
- Sourdough is the oldest kind of raised bread in history.
Sources: Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine
Questions kids ask
Is sourdough alive?
The starter is. It is full of living yeast and bacteria that bakers feed with flour and water.