Sam Desmond
On a Sunday morning in Oakdale, you’ll find a line of eager customers waiting for a chance to pick up a loaf or muffins from South Shore Sourdough, the cottage bakery that has made a big impression in the community with artisan bread made from the traditional method of sourdough starter.
Meggin Hall, the owner of South Shore Sourdough, started baking loaves of bread for family members and friends, but quickly noticed how the demand increased through word-of-mouth and decided to go into business and provide the community with fresh-baked bread.
Baking begins a couple of days before the Sunday dispersal, giving the dough time to rise, and for the confections to cool down to be packaged.
Sourdough, the bread popularized on TikTok that gives the impression of being alive with its bubbling and growth, comes from a starter with flour and water.
“I made my starter about two years ago; it has that live bacteria in it. You start with a cup of flour and a cup of water. You let it rise for 24 hours and then scoop out half and then ‘feed’ it again with more flour and water,” said Hall.
“It’s all natural; there’s no yeast in sourdough—it rises naturally,” said Hall.
The starter, which remains in the refrigerator, is then incorporated into the recipe with a 2-to-1 ratio (i.e., 60 grams of newly made dough will combine with 30 grams of the sourdough starter dough).
“It’s like a whole family of bread,” said Hall.
In the beginning of November 2024, Hall began selling her sourdough creations. Inspired by health experts studying “blue zones” (i.e., places around the world where people live to be a 100), Hall began to cook with sourdough because of its popularity in areas like Greece.
“My grandmother lived into her 90s and that’s my goal—I want to live into my 90s. I started looking at what they eat and I saw in Sardinia, they were eating sourdough bread,” said Hall.
Hall reported that it took some time to master sourdough baking and said, “It’s so precise; it’s a science to it.”
Bartering her bread with a co-worker who made meatballs, Hall was encouraged to sell her bread.
“I said, ‘Get the hell out of here, I’m not selling bread,’” said Hall.
What changed her mind was thinking of the nearby artist colony that offered fresh vegetables for sale and another neighbor who sold eggs.
“How cool would it be to do something for the community where they could get bread?” said Hall.
With her first batch selling out quickly, Hall decided to increase her stock and has even invested in more commercial equipment from her certified kitchen.
A bread influencer posted about Hall’s bread, and the following week, she sold out her stock in less than four minutes.
“Now I’m making sourdough muffins, garlic bread, jalapeno cheddar bread, cinnamon raisin,” said Hall. “I try to keep it simple because this isn’t my full-time job.”
“In the summer, I’d love to have bagels, hot dog, and hamburger buns,” said Hall.
Follow South Shore Sourdough on Instagram or Facebook for updates about bread pick-up.
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