I Make Sourdough Bread Now
I received a sourdough starter from a friend on New Year’s Eve, and since then, I have devoured sourdough recipes. And also lots of bread, too.
Name and Feed Your Starter
There is a ton of overwhelming information out there on sourdough. As I am very much a non-baker, none of it made much sense until I started experimenting. I began feeding my starter, who we call Sasha. One of the first things I learned in the sourdough community is that you name your starter. After all, she is a living thing that needs to be fed and nourished, so giving her a name is much like naming a pet. Hesitant at first, I wasn’t entirely sure how much to feed Sasha. There are plenty of suggested measurements, depending on when and how much you will be baking.
I realized that going by ratios is more efficient than an actual measurement. I also quickly learned that converting to grams using a food scale produces a much better loaf than measuring in standard cups and tablespoons. So I fed Sasha a ratio of 1:1:1, starter, water, and flour.
After three days of two-a-day feedings, I felt I had beefed her up enough to start the process of my first sourdough boule.
So Many Recipes!
A whole section of the internet is dedicated to sourdough bread recipes, each claiming to be the best or the simplest—my strategy combined two recipes that I found easy to follow. Rest times, rise times, and fermentation times are critical for achieving a perfect loaf, so for the first time ever, I didn’t click the “jump to recipe” button. I read the step-by-step instructions thoroughly, taking note of tips and tricks.
My first sourdough loaf came out surprisingly good. I am absolutely not a baker, so I didn’t think my first shot would be edible. So, if I can do it, I guess anyone can make sourdough.
Making sourdough isn’t like other baking attempts I have failed at miserably. It’s a long process, with plenty of waiting time – which is great for a mom like me with kids running around demanding attention and my unfocused brain. I can literally get the dough ready and forget about it for 7- 12 hours (which is the exact reason I am no good at baking in the first place).
I still have a lot to learn, but experimenting is half the fun. I have already made pancakes, brownies, a sandwich loaf, biscuits, and three typical sourdough boules. I have never eaten this much bread before, and my kitchen is constantly covered in flour dust.
