In praise of Gluten Free Sourdough

Gluten-free sourdough has been an absolute game changer for me – both health-wise and in my kitchen. It is very forgiving and very versatile, and so much simpler than its gluten-based sibling.

I have previously shared posts on Getting to Gut Health: Resources and Why it is so important. On my journey, I had to avoid gluten and then gradually started to introduce sourdough bread (the fermentation process makes it easier to digest). It is no great surprise that of course I had to have a go at making it myself.

I bought a sourdough starter kit and full of enthusiasm began the process. Well! What a performance! One that I will not be repeating. I did get a good result but it took all day! The sourdough was so ‘needy’ (kneady?). The times seemed to be so critical; it had to rise to a certain level and even if it had shrunk just a little, it was past it’s prime and you had to start the process again; there was a lot of fold and stretch kneading that you did 8 times and then leave it for 30 mins and then another 8 times and then leaving it for another 30 mins, repeating 3 times before doing yet something else with it. Far too much much focused attention required for far too long for one loaf of bread!

Shortly after this, I was watching a series of webinars on osteoporosis and several of the presenters said that the number one thing that they would recommend for people with osteoporosis was to avoid gluten. Gluten can trigger intestinal permeability or leaky gut, which in turn promotes the development of chronic inflammation and the development of many diseases in which chronic inflammation plays a part –including osteoporosis.

That same day I came across a Gluten Free (GF) Sourdough Bread making course at Korukai Herb Farm. I didn’t go to the course but I bought a GF Sourdough Starter and a GF Sourdough Bread Baking Guide from their online shop. That has been an absolute game changer for me – GF Sourdough is very forgiving and very versatile: you let it ferment for 6-18 hours at room temp, it doesn’t have to rise to a particular level but you will see bubbles appear. You do need to feed it once a week but this is a very simple process.

The GF Sourdough Baking Guide is available in digital format and has lots of information on looking after your starter, terminology, different types of GF grains and their baking characteristics, and several different recipes for traditional sourdough loaves, focaccia, pizza dough and more. It also has recipes for using the ‘discard’ or the bit that is left over after feeding your starter: crackers, pancakes and galette.

I have made all the recipes in the guide and now have the confidence to start making my own variations. Everyone has their own preferences to texture, crispness, colour etc for bread but everything I have made has been better than most of the commercially available GF offerings – and with known, healthier ingredients. I personally don’t like the very hard crust of traditional sourdough loaves but I now regularly make the focaccia recipe in a loaf tin for my sandwich/toast bread and make a spicy fruit version as well. I don’t make bread every week but I love making seed crackers with the discard and nothing is wasted.

I have also starting using a GF Flour Mix for my other cooking and baking instead of wheat flour:
300g brown rice flour
220g buckwheat flour
120g tapioca starch
It isn’t suitable to use alone (without the sourdough starter or discard) in recipes that require strong binding like crackers, bread, pizza, buns etc. The buckwheat adds texture and nutrition, while the tapioca starch provides moisture for binding that GF flour can lack. I will experiment a bit more with this as my first efforts at substituting this in my favourite recipes have led to a somewhat dry (but still acceptable) result.