What is Leaven?

What is leaven? What does it do? How do I make it?

Leaven: (noun) a substance, typically a type of yeast, that is used in dough to make it rise

When you make bread using yeast purchased from the store the yeast is the bread's rising agent. When you make bread with sourdough yeast, it does the same job, but it's a slower process for it to digest through the flour than when using packets of yeast from the store. Either way yeast is used to make bread rise.

When you make sourdough bread you need to prepare your leaven 6-12 hours prior to making your dough. My preference is to make leaven at night before I go to bed, let it ferment on the counter overnight, and then make dough in the morning when the leaven has risen significantly. *If you have a healthy starter it should be rising and falling in the jar in between each feeding. It is optimal to make bread when your leaven is at it's peak rise.

How: When you look at any sourdough bread recipe it will call for a certain amount of Leaven, or Active Starter. This means that the starter/leaven is bubbly, it has doubled in size, and has not yet started to fall back down inside your jar. To make the leaven take the total amount that the recipe calls for and divide the number in half. So if it calls for 300g of leaven you need half water, half the flour, plus a spoonful of your original starter into a new jar. Then it sits on the counter until it doubles in size. If a recipe calls for 2 cups leaven you will need to make a leaven that is made from a spoonful of starter with a cup of water and a cup of flour. (you get the idea)

Once your leaven jar has doubled in size you are ready to make your dough. Start by pouring water into the bowl you're mixing in, and then add the leaven. Your leaven should float on top of the water inside your bowl. Swirl your water and leaven around a bit and then add your flour. Follow the directions on your recipe to proceed.