🔥 NEW raw dairy items: cottage cheese, whey, and skim milk! SHOP NOW.

Why choose old fashioned sourdough bread? What makes it better?

written by

Marie Reedell

posted on

January 17, 2025

organic-sourdough-bread-boule.JPG

Let's get this straight - sourdough came first.

It might feel like a new trend, but it's actually the most old fashioned leavened bread you can eat. I mean, active dry yeast wasn't even invented until 1943!

As we've heard time and time again when it comes to modern conventional food, convenience and cost typically come before health. Ugh. This is especially true when it comes to bread.

Modern bread in supermarkets has 22.5 ingredients on average. I mean, wow! Our sourdough bread is made with just 3 - flour, water, and pink Himalayan salt.

Why all those other ingredients? To make what modern consumers consider the "perfect bread".

Sugar to make it sweeter. Yeast to make it rise instantly (instead of waiting for the sourdough culture). Dough conditioners for better volume. Preservatives to make it last for weeks. Emulsifiers to give it the same consistency every time. Artificial colors to make it look good.

Did you notice a trend with those extra ingredients? None are there to improve the nutrition of the bread (on the contrary, many come with potential risks). Yup, it's all about appearance and flavor.

Enter sourdough, the better bread. It's more nutritious than yeast bread. 

There are 4 big reasons why:

1- Carbohydrates are broken down during fermentation, making them easier to digest.

There are naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts in flour. When flour is dry, they're inactive. But, when you add water, they come to life. It might seem like magic... but it's science on a microscopic level.

These lactic acid bacteria and yeasts feed on carbohydrates. They break them down and produce carbon dioxide gas. That's what makes a sourdough culture bubble and what makes bread have those wonderful pockets inside.

This is also what makes sourdough bread more digestible. Carbs are one of the hardest things for your body to digest. But the carbs in sourdough bread are pre-digested, making it a lot easier on your body.

2- Gluten is broken down during fermentation, making it easier to digest.

Same story as above. The naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts break down gluten, too! That means there's less gluten in sourdough bread compared to yeast bread. 

This doesn't mean that those with Celiac disease can eat it, but it does mean that it's more digestible for most. But it does mean that many people with gluten sensitivity can handle sourdough but not yeast bread.

3- Phytic acid is broken down, which makes the minerals bioavailable.

Phytic acid in unfermented bread binds to minerals, making it hard (and sometimes impossible) for our body to absorb them. But, sourdough fermentation creates phytase, an enzyme that breaks down the phytic acid. This makes the minerals remain bioavailable. Because of this, sourdough bread is more nutrient-dense than yeast bread.

4- Prebiotics are naturally present. 

Prebiotics are a type of fiber that feed on the good bacteria in your gut. When you eat them, it helps probiotics grow and thrive in your digestive tract. Beca-glucan is a specific prebiotic in sourdough bread that can boost probiotic activity after digestion.

Buyer beware --- fake sourdough is a thing!

Watch out for yeast and sugars as ingredients. Real sourdough does not include them. 

Also keep an eye out for expiration dates weeks or months away. Authentic sourdough will only last a few days.

And lastly you may want to ask about fermentation time. A true sourdough will ferment 3.5-7 hours. There's a new thing called "sourdough powder", which is basically an active dry yeast that makes the bread taste like sourdough.

Did you know we offer handmade artisan sourdough bread?

It's the real deal sourdough bread made with just flour, water, and Himalayan pink salt. We have both regular and organic. Every loaf is made by Esta, right here on our farm.

Our loaves are crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It's everything you expect from an old fashioned bread. If you won't eat it within a few days, you can freeze it for later!

If you have any questions about our sourdough bread, comment below or contact us. We're super transparent and are happy to answer any questions you may have 😊

-----

Sources

More from the blog

Mmmm... spring milk. Super special when you eat from a natural farmer.

Back in the day when all farming was natural, spring was extra special.  First off, spring feels really good after a long winter. There's the happy emergence of yellow daffodils and pink cherry flowers, the sounds of birds chirping and bugs buzzing, and the warm sun on your skin. But, the most exciting spring thing for a grass farmer like me and for a grass milk shopper like you is when the pasture turns from brown to bright green. When the cows are eating the first growth of 100% fresh spring grass - yeehaw! That means spring milk - the best dairy of the year! You see, when cows are fed outside on real pasture and are raised in harmony with nature, the milk changes throughout the year. There's variation that's in line with nature. In spring, the milk is hands down the best.  When you eat from a natural farmer, there are 3 things to look for with spring milk (or butter or cream or yogurt): The yellowest color. The bright spring grass means yellower milk. You're seeing the extra spring beta carotene in there! It's a sure way to know that your milk was 100% grass fed. The creamiest texture. Spring milk is loaded with more fat than other times of the year. You may notice the cream line on the milk get heftier. It's a perfect time for butter making. The most flavor. Since fat holds flavor and spring milk has more fat... that means the most flavorful milk is spring milk. Plus, when cows eat from biodiverse pastures like mine, it has a nuanced taste. Some may call it grassy or earthy. I call is straight up yummy. And, beyond what you can see and taste, spring milk is known for having max nutrition. Us humans are innately smart at stuff like this. When it naturally looks better and tastes better, it often means it nourishes you better, too! On my farm, 100% spring milk started a couple weeks ago. Now's the time to enjoy the dairy at its best! Have you noticed a difference in the milk or butter lately? Do you love the spring and spring dairy? I'd love to hear what you think! Comment below 😊-----PS: Did you know that, in nature, calving season is spring? We follow that natural cycle with most of our cows. That means we had a lot of mama cows that just gave birth!

Why corn & soy free? Here's an old fashioned standpoint.

In case you didn't know, over the past few years, we've transitioned all of our animals to be corn & soy free. Our dairy and beef and lamb have always been 100% grass fed. It's nothing new and simply the most natural way. I'm more talking about our animals that need supplemental feed in addition to what they forage for in the woods or at pasture - pigs, chickens, laying hens, and turkeys. There is just one exception: our GMO-free eggs. We're offering them now simply because we don't have enough corn & soy free eggs for everyone. They're the second best option around. Once our corn & soy free flock gets big enough, we'll likely discontinue the GMO-free eggs. But why? Why go corn & soy free? What's the big deal? Recently, I've heard a bunch of farms touting low PUFAs or having great omega 6/3 ratios. Well, that's all fine and well. It's always nice to have science back up what you're doing.  But, it's not really about that for me and my brother Phil. Sometimes it's softer, sometimes just by doing things that are innately natural lead to better health. The scientific whys and hows seem to constantly be changing, but the fact that natural is better has been a constant for a loooong time. Forget PUFAs. Forget omegas. Going corn & soy free is honestly the most old fashioned, most natural way of doing things in our confusing modern world of agriculture. Here are 5 reasons why (as it mostly relates to chickens): Chickens naturally forage for small grains, not big ones like corn and soy. If we go back in time, chickens were scavengers. They'd live on a farm or homestead and mostly fend for themselves. They would find kitchen scraps in the compost pile (veggies and grain and even meat). They would find spilled feed from other animals and eat that. And of course they would forage for grasses and bugs and seeds. And when foraging, they'd usually go for smaller seeds. Think about how big a grass seed is. It's small, much smaller than a large corn kernel or soybean. A modern, unnatural diet of mainly corn & soy can lead to health issues in animals. Here are a few problems that can arise: It's hard for chickens to digest corn and soy. Trying to do it over and over again can lead to digestive issues. For example, corn is high in starch and ferments easily. Chickens eating too much corn can have intestinal distress. Or, another example is that soy is high in anti-nutrients like lectins. This can interfere with how well a bird digests protein and absorbs nutrients.It can also lead to nutritional imbalances. For example, soy is high in anti-nutrients like lectins. Overconsumption can interfere with how well a bird digests protein and absorbs nutrients.It can lead to gaining weight and growing too fast. It's just unnatural. It can lead to issues with muscles, bones, joints, and the heart. Birds that grow too quickly are more prone to broken bones and lameness. We can avoid modern GMOs with certainty. No risk of cross pollination. Sure, corn and soy have been around for thousands of years. But, today's versions are nothing like they used to be. They've been hybridized and genetically modified. And because of the ridiculous amount of fields filled with GMO corn & soy, there's a pretty good chance of cross pollination nowadays. Eliminating corn and soy also eliminates the risk of anything GMO being in your food. Corn & soy are, more often than not, farmed with modern conventional practices. Those are usually bad for the environment and the future of soil. Corn & soy are the top 2 crops in the US. 90%+ that's grown is GMO. And that means that the farming practices are uber conventional.  Tilling, fertilizing with synthetic stuff, spraying lots of chemicals (including glyphosate), etc. These practices usually lead to some big problems environmentally: soil erosion, topsoil loss, loss of microbiology in the soil, loss of ecosystems, pollution in many forms, the list could go on and on!  Feeding a natural diet means healthier animals and therefore more nutrition for you! This is just common sense, right? When you eat better, you are healthier. And when it comes to farming, when you have healthier animals, they produce nutrient-dense foods! We do our best to give our animals the most biologically appropriate, most digestible, most bioavailable foods we can. It's really for the health of everything! What do you choose corn & soy free? Is it the PUFA/omega thing or something else?

5 reasons we just love raw dairy. Why do you choose raw?

Happy Valentine's Day 💖  In honor of St. Valentine, I'd like to tell you about the one thing (other than my wife and family) that I love most - raw dairy!  Truly, it's my passion in life. And, truly, not just any person wants to be a dairy farmer. You have to be committed. The cows need to be milked 2x a day, every day, no matter what (even when I'm feeling crappy). And, when you farm regeneratively, you need to move the cows every day (sometimes multiple times a day). To sum it up -- it's not an easy career! So why do I do it? As I said, I just love raw dairy. And while I'm doing it for myself, I might as well supply you with it, too. Here are the top 5 reasons I love raw dairy: 1-- Raw milk is a real, old fashioned food.  I mean, humans have been drinking raw milk forever as their first food (AKA breast milk). Infant formula was invented in 1865, less than 200 years ago. Before then, all babies got breast milk and only breast milk. And, humans started drinking milk from animals thousands of years ago. Some people speculate that humans probably started taking milk from other animals out of desperation. In a foot shortage or drought, they may have noticed a calf nursing its mother. "Hmmm... maybe I can take some milk, too," they may have thought. Then, they realized it was delicious. And, it was an excellent extra food source, especially in winter or when migrating. It became a staple in cultures around the world and still is. 2-- Raw dairy is probiotic. That's right. Raw milk naturally comes with probiotic lactic acid bacteria. It can boost your immune system, improve digestion, and may even help prevent certain kinds of diseases including cancer. Did you know that your gut contains 80% of the immune cells in your body? It's so important to maintaining good health and having resilience when sick. Your gut works by being in balance. The probiotic bacteria defend you against invading potentially harmful bacteria. The probiotic bacteria in your gut also help you digest food. You can get max nutrition from every bite, have better bowel movements, and have less inflammation when your gut is in balance.  3-- Many people with lactose intolerance can handle raw dairy.  A baby naturally produces lots of lactase enzymes to digest breast milk. Lactase is needed to digest lactose, a sugar in milk. Without it, you can experience stomach upset and other awful symptoms. But, as you get older, you naturally produce less and less lactase. People who are lactose intolerant either don't produce enough lactase or don't produce any at all.  The "magic" of raw milk is that the living microbiology that it naturally contains can jumpstart your body to produce lactase. Amazing! 4-- Keeping it raw makes all the nutrition bioavailable.  Pasteurization destroys or inactivates vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes. Raw milk, on the other hand, has max nutrition that it fully and easily available to your body. Here's a nice chart from the Raw Milk Institute that sums it up: It's it's no necessarily a matter of the vitamins disappearing or being destroyed altogether. It's more a matter of the milk being altered so your body cannot use vitamins in the milk.  5-- Raw milk can be made into so many yummy foods!  Butter, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, pudding, cheese, paneer, sour cream. The list can go on and on. It's kinda amazing that one simple food - milk - can result in such an array of foods with different textures and flavors. As with most foods, all dairy items were invented accidentally. This is pretty amazing. For example, it's been said that cheese was invented when someone put milk in an animal stomach to go on a long journey. While walking in the hot sun, the enzymes from the stomach coagulated the milk and made cheese. It was delicious, so he did it again and again! Whoever invented ice cream definitely deserves a prize!  Did you know that the same health benefits of raw dairy for humans applies to your furry family as well?  Although it shouldn't be a staple food, feeding raw dairy to your cats & dogs has definite benefits. It add moisture, healthy fats, probiotics, and vitamins and minerals to their diet. It also enriches their life, giving them new flavors and textures to explore.  That's why we offer as much raw dairy as we can! We have raw milk and cream for humans in WV, and raw dairy for cats & dogs everywhere. What's your #1 reason for loving raw dairy?  I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us 🥰 ----- Sources The Origins of Milk: Why Was the First Cow Milked in the First Place?Letter to Medical Professionals about Raw MilkThe Role of Probiotics in Maintaining Gut Health