sourdough starter. Whether you've been lovingly crafting homemade cranberry bagels or indulging in a biweekly homemade loaded lox bagel, there comes a point where the strachy component just feels ... plain. That's where sourdough enters the chat. Traditional bagels often rely on commercial yeast that can impart an extremely faint sweetness that's easily mistaken for a neutral flavor. In contrast, sourdough achieves a more complex and savory sourness from the myriad of acids released by its starter, which is a gut-friendly culture of wild yeasts