Rustic Rise Sourdough Co.

05/30/2026

Plan ahead! We'll be closed 6/12 so make sure next week you don't forget to order.

05/29/2026

4th of July is just around the corner! While I haven't dropped the menu yet, I am thinking about it.

Definitely:
Fruit topped cheesecakes
Hamburger buns (your favorite ones I make a few times a year)

Thinking about:
Basil Tomato Sourdough Loaf

Drop your requests below!

05/29/2026

I love getting nerdy and talking bread with my customers. Any true artisan is knowledgeable about their products and I love to share my knowledge & passion with others. I recently met a wonderful couple at the Beer & Wine Festival who thanked me for my "breaducation" on this page. It really touched me to hear how genuinely happy they were to have found me a while back. Once an educator, always an educator. I believe that if you know better, you can do better.

This Seeded Spelt loaf is made with the ancient grain spelt. It has a mildly nutty and sweet, slightly caramel-like aroma. It's lighter and less earthy than Emmer or Khorasan. The dough is highly extensible and fragile (breaks down easily if over-kneaded) and takes skill to work with. Spelt produces a soft, tender crumb and thin crust which is my favorite thing about my classic recipe.

05/27/2026

Closed June 12, so stock up the week before & make sure you get your 6/19 orders in early before I sell out!

05/27/2026

We'll be closed June 12, so plan accordingly!

05/26/2026

Check the label!

Sourdough has become a wellness signal. People believe it is healthier than regular bread, especially for blood sugar. The biology is real, but it depends on whether the bread was actually fermented. Many supermarket "sourdoughs" were not.

The mechanism. Real sourdough is made with a starter, a living culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. Over 12 to 24 hours of fermentation, the bacteria produce lactic acid and acetic acid. These organic acids lower postprandial glucose and insulin through some combination of slower starch digestion and slower gastric emptying. The starch is also partly modified by long contact with acids and enzymes, making it digest more slowly. Same carbs, slower release into your blood.

The human data. Liljeberg and Bjorck (Am J Clin Nutr 1997) showed that adding lactic acid or propionate to bread lowered postprandial glucose and insulin in healthy adults. The acids do the work. Ozer and colleagues (Wien Klin Wochenschr 2023) tested 43 women with gestational diabetes and 38 healthy pregnant women. Same breakfast, same carb dose, different bread. White wheat caused 45 percent more insulin and 9.6 percent more first-hour glucose than sourdough whole grain. Both groups. The difference was the bread.

The industry problem. In the United States, "sourdough" is not a regulated term. Manufacturers can label any bread sourdough. Real Bread Campaign auditors in the UK have documented widespread use of commercial yeast, added vinegar or acetic acid, and "sourdough flavoring" in loaves sold as sourdough. The bread is leavened in roughly two hours, then dosed with acid to mimic the tang of a long ferment.

Why this matters. Added vinegar is not nothing. Liljeberg 1997 showed adding acid to bread produces some glucose-lowering effect. But it does not replicate full sourdough fermentation, which produces both lactic and acetic acid in specific ratios plus slow modification of the starch itself. Commercial "sourdough" with added vinegar gets you a fraction of the benefit.

A note on the data. The Ozer 2023 comparator was white wheat bread, not commercial "yeasted vinegar sourdough." The graphic extends that by inference. Commercial sourdough without real fermentation behaves like white bread plus a small added-acid effect.

A note on labels. Authentic sourdough should list flour, water, salt, and starter. If the label says yeast, vinegar, acetic acid, or "natural flavor," the bread was not fermented in the traditional sense. Hybrid labels ("made with sourdough starter" plus commercial yeast) get some flavor compounds but skip most of the ferment.

The takeaway. The glucose effect of sourdough is real and is one of the more rigorously documented benefits in fermented foods. But the benefit lives in the fermentation, not the label. Check the ingredient list. If it has yeast or vinegar, you are eating fast bread with a marketing claim.

Liljeberg, Am J Clin Nutr 1997 · Ozer, Wien Klin Wochenschr 2023

05/25/2026

For those new here, meet "The Bread Shed." It's the heart & soul of Rustic Rise Sourdough Co. As an honor system bakery, I invest my time and efforts in producing high quality fresh sourdough baked just hours before you pick up your order. Using a pre-order system allows me to bake specially for you, minimizing waist. I only bake as many loaves as you request each week allowing me to concentrate on maintaining a healthy starter, source high quality ingredients, and deliver products fresh from the oven to the bread shed and then to your table within the same day.

Our wonderful cottage laws allow me to do all of this from my home without the overhead of a brick & mortar. I do think about opening a bakery one day when my kids are older, but honestly that isn't the end goal. Work life balance is my highest priority. I left teaching to invest in my own children and my time with them is irreplaceable. My micro bakery has been successful for 2.5 years & while my reach isn't as big as a brick & mortar storefront, people who want the best have a way of finding it.

Integrity, trustworthiness & honesty is something I highly value. When I say fresh from my oven to your table, I mean it (you've seen my stone bread oven). You've seen my starter (there's no yeast on my labels for a reason). And when I say local, I mean Sierra Vista (not Tucson or Phoenix). You've seen the cleanliness of my home when you come for workshops. My customers chose me because they trust me. I likewise trust you to only pickup the bread you ordered. Trust is earned and I strive to continue to earn that every week.

05/24/2026

Your baker caught in the wild! Thanks for finding me at the Beer & Wine Festival. The chocolate chip cookies were a huge hit, as were the three cheese & jalapeno cheddar.

Remember to take your bread out of the microperforated bag so it doesn't stale. I prefer a bread cloche & beeswax for the cut side, or a cotton beeswax lined bread bag to keep it fresh for a week.