Lockdown baking might have launched thousands of natural ferments but for top cooks dried yeast is a quick win, not a cheat
Sourdough starter show and tell was a thing well before collective lockdowns. There’s a modern impulse to Instagram bubbling or overflowing jars of starter from which perfectly shaped, scored and coloured loaves are birthed; their home bakers cooing about the perfect crumb.
It borders on smug, devotees telling you that starters can be over a century old, while some of us see sourdough akin to houseplants: a nice idea but ultimately something else to kill. So is a packet of dry yeast a cheat, or the preserve of true home bakers?