Rising in the Holyland: Sourdough bread
It’s been several weeks since I sat in Gina Guth’s kitchen at The Flour Pot in DePere, Wis., watching her turn sourdough for the final time before storing her loaves of raw dough in a banneton, or proofing basket, to rise overnight in the fridge. The weekly activity on a Thursday is a Saturday market preparatory ritual. The sourdough bread story was also blooming in the next county over.
Sourdough has had a major renaissance in recent years and the time-intensive, parent-like nurturing to turn out a loaf continues to capture curious bakers. It might be because baking took off during COVID when time was available and returning to baking from scratch caught everyone’s attention on TickTok. Or maybe it’s the community it builds, connecting people in rural areas.
As one Holyland baker shared, community need started–and continues to drive–her success.
Krista Fredericks, owner of Oak and Arrow Farm, and health and wellness coach with doTERRA silver status, will tell you her sourdough journey took off long before this “was a thing on social”. It began one Thanksgiving while she was preparing made-from-scratch meals for a friend.
“Our bakery accidentally took off and it was not only a blessing for us but for our community,” Krista shares. What started from one Thanksgiving post on social media resulted in four loaves in a week and quickly grew to more than 40 overnight, she says.
“At that time I was only able to bake two loaves at a time in our home oven,’ Krista remembers. “In April 2024, we pulled the trigger on The Simply Bread oven and with three 90-pound stones I can move up to 15 loaves through the oven every 35 minutes.”
Large capacity ovens not only turn out dozens of loaves but also hundreds of cookies and sourdough scones, and more. Each week owners of several cottage bakeries turn out hundreds of loaves sold through Facebook, Instagram and websites for pick up as well as stores such as The Honey Shoppe in Sherwood, Wis.
Starter stories
Reading dehydrated starter instructions for rehydration in Holyland Corner Bakery’s starter kit is a reminder of the love, care and attention given to the base of any sourdough loaf. Starters, as they are affectionately called, have their own story to tell; a family history and lineage seemingly all their own in chips or globs of live, doughy matter.
“My starter is called Marcella,” says Elizabeth Thome, owner of Holyland Corner Bakery in Malone, Wis. “I grew up in the kitchen with my mom, and it’s always been a comfort zone. I’m not artistic in the traditional sense, but I love sharing beauty through food.”
In the case of the Holyland Corner Bakery starter kit, Marcella, bakers are carrying on Elizabeth’’s tribute to her daughter, father’s mother and father-in-law’s mother.
Community over competition is a common theme among Holyland bakers. Buy local sourdough this season by ordering ahead online or on social media, or find them at area pop-up markets in and around Calumet County.
The Flour Pot
DePere, WI
920-493-8818
www.flourpot-llc.com
Oak and Arrow Farm
920-207-9578
oandasourdough@gmail.com
Facebook: @oakandarrowfarm
Instagram: oak_and_arrow
Holyland Corner Bakery
Malone, WI
920-979-4598
www.holylandcornerbakery.com
Facebook: @HolylandCornerBakery
Instagram: holylandcornerbakery
Sourdough defined by Taylor Pakala
Sourdough means that the product is naturally leavened, without commercial yeast. To make sourdough products, you need a "starter". This starter is created over time with JUST flour and filtered water. Over time, wild yeast begins to grow in the starter as you continue to "feed it" (again, you're just feeding it flour and filtered water!), and that's what creates the rise in the bread. It's a pretty magical thing, and it will never cease to amaze me how it works. Sourdough bread has a longer fermentation time from start to finish (whereas commercial yeast makes the process fast), which makes sourdough much easier on your body to digest.
