Quarantine Baking: Sourdough in The Time of Uncertainty

Even though she visits an average of 10 Los Angeles grocery stores each workday, Elizabeth Nordenholt rarely sees flour on the shelves. Nordenholt, 30, works as a sales rep for Stone Brewing, and when she happens upon a 5-pound bag of all-purpose flour at one of her accounts, it’s an exhilarating feeling.

As an essential worker, Nordenholt hasn’t experienced much daily disruption during the coronavirus pandemic. But like many Americans, she craved a hobby to fill her downtime. She turned to something that’s both tactile and delicious: baking sourdough bread. 

According to Google Trends, searches for the word “sourdough” have increased 88% between March 5 and April 5. But it’s not just about limiting trips to crowded grocery stores. For many, it’s a way to quiet the noise of a chaotic world.

“There are very few things I’m permitted to enjoy right now,” Nordenholt said. “But a loaf of bread I made all on my own is something no one can take from me.”

The Appeal of Sourdough

In a typical year, Nordenholt bakes about once month. Now that she’s mostly confined to her apartment, she makes difficult and time-consuming baked goods at least every week.

Because she can rarely find yeast in grocery stores, Nordenholt turned to sourdough. This type of bread uses wild yeast, and it only requires two simple ingredients: flour and water.

Bakers refer to this wild yeast as a starter, and it takes between 5 and 8 days to make. Creating a starter requires frequent “feeding” of flour so the concoction can ferment and grow in size.

“The reason I put off making sourdough is because it’s such a commitment,” Nordenholt said. “You have to feed the starter every day, and you have to keep using that starter to make more bread.”

Online Baking Classes

Alyssa Young, owner of Cake Llama Custom Dessert Catering in Austin, Texas, noticed the increased popularity of baking sourdough bread and decided to lend a hand.

Through her weekly Facebook livestream videos, Young, 30, teaches beginners how to properly feed their starter and knead dough.  

“[Sourdough] is the most minimal type of bread, and it’s one of the most ancient ways to do it,” Young said. “The rush to at-home baking is kind of awesome because it gives a little bit of insight into how everything comes together.”

Molly Johnson, a 44-year-old music teacher in Austin, was also inspired by the recent trend. After the coronavirus pandemic forced her to cancel private banjo lessons, Johnson created an online baking course called “Bread and Banjos.”

“Hopefully people can realize baking is easier than we think, especially to get amazing results,” Johnson said.

Grocery Stores in Short Supply 

For many bakers, the real challenge lies with finding necessary ingredients.

Johnson searched all of her neighborhood grocery stores for flour and finally found some at an Indian supermarket.

“It was more like pastry flour, but it worked fine,” Johnson said. “Flour is better than no flour.”

After that, Johnson ordered a 50-pound bag of all-purpose flour from Baker’s Authority Restaurant Supply. Her order arrived at her doorstep in about three days.

While Johnson had no difficulty ordering in bulk, Young ran into some delays.

“It’s all on back-order. It’s really crazy,” Young said. “It takes about three weeks when normally it takes about three business days.”

Is Sourdough a Passing Fad?

Nordenholt loves baking while social distancing, but she doubts she’ll continue her hobby at the same rate once restrictions are lifted.

“I have the sourdough starter, and I’ll probably try to keep up with that so I’m not wasting it,” Nordenholt said. “There will probably be a lot of repurposing it into pancakes and other non-rising breads.”

Johnson, however, said it’s easy to implement baking into a normal routine.

“I think even when people go back to work, if they’ve kind of mastered the flexibility of scheduling a sourdough recipe, they probably can do it on a worknight or a weekend as well,” Johnson said.

Young also feels optimistic about the longevity of this new trend.

“I really think at-home bread baking is here to stay,” Young said. “By the end of this, family traditions will be dusted off and maybe even created.”