Sourdough vs yeast bread

Sourdough and yeast leavening are suited to different styles of bread. It’s not just about the flavour but also about the techniques that suit loaf types. After using sourdough culture, yeast bread is alarmingly fast, and is probably best for working up techniques as you are not dealing with uncertainty over whether your dough has risen enough, on top of getting shaping etc right.

Flavour first. I think the flavour of sourdough suits rye and wholemeal, and for spreads it’s suited more to honey and ‘brown’ jams. It has a good savory profile that suits any kind of lunch sandwich. Yeast bread is good as a simple background for clear flavours like berry jams.

Because yeast dough rises so much faster it is suited to breads with more difficult shapes. For instance a baguette requires a fairly wet dough to get a sharp crust and big holes, but the slow rising time of sourdough outlasts the dough tension which holds a nice shape, so you tend to get a flat baguette. Also for complex rich breads like croissants and brioche it’s best to use yeast. Finally, cinnamon seems to particularly antagonize the sourdough culture, so I use yeast for cinnamon breads (and only roll the cinnamon in at the last forming stage).