Sourdough, the big one. The one everyone has been talking about since the baking boom that came with COVID. Honestly, it is the thing that really got me adventurous with baking, so I am excited to share it!

I really got into sourdough because it was the holy grail of baking pre-covid. Only the crazy bakers made sourdough (not true but I am big on hyperbole). BUT it did have an aura surrounding it: only the hardcore bakers make sourdough. And I wanted in.

Reality? It was research, trial, and error because a lot of online resources and books gave overcomplicated explanations. They made it seem like if you didn’t have a banneton, a dutch oven, a scoring knife, and a plethora of knowledge, you can’t make it.

If you don’t have a banneton? use a bowl dusted with flour. I have done it both ways and they both work perfectly fine. All the banneton does is help add structure and shape in the final rise of the bread. If you get invested in sourdough, will you want one for convenience? Yeah, probably. They are super nice and work well. Do you need one? No.

Don’t have a dutch oven? Bake your sourdough in an oven safe pot (with a lid if you have an oven safe one) – or put a cookie sheet with water in it on the oven rack below the sourdough pot. Sourdough has a high water content in it, so when you bake it the steam it puts off it helps it rise more. If you trap the steam in the dutch oven, it helps it rise with minimal interference. If you put a cookie sheet in the oven with water in it, it does the same thing. It just uses the whole oven as a dutch oven.

Scoring knife? Lol just use a knife. Or a razor blade. It its literally nothing special.

Basics of Sourdough

The only thing you really need to know about sourdough is that it uses a sourdough “starter” rather than yeast to make the dough rise. A sourdough starter is just a combination of flour and water that you ferment. As long as you re-feed your starter and don’t use it all when you make the loaf of bread you can continue the fermentation process over decades, just by adding more flour and water.

This can be a bit confusing, because yeast is naturally found in flour. When you create a starter, you are harnessing the natural yeast from the flour to ferment, and that fermentation is what makes the dough sour.

If you don’t believe me, you can go and make my Rosemarie’s German Bread recipe! When you make it, exclude the yeast and sugar. Just mix the flour, salt, and water together (if you use a heavily processed flour this may not work). It will take longer for the dough to double in size but when it does you will have the exact same loaf of bread. I have done this before when I didn’t have any yeast on hand and it has worked awesome! The bread rises just from the natural yeasts in the flour being activated by the water. Instant yeast just quickens the natural process.

Once you have the sourdough starter (you can make one or you can buy them online), you just need to mix it with flour, water, and salt. That’s it. Just like other bread, you have a kneading process, you have a rising process, and you have a baking process.

Oh – and once you have the starter, you can add it to anything you want. It doesn’t have to be just a loaf of bread. You can use it to make sourdough pizza, sourdough focaccia, sourdough pasta, sourdough bagels, sourdough pancakes, sourdough cinnamon rolls… I mean the list can go on for so long. Anything you add flour and water to you can add sourdough starter to and it will add some sourdough flavor.

Why does it seem so hard?

Sourdough is a time commitment. That is probably the reason it seems intimidating. You have to put in a long period of time to make sourdough work. It may be time consuming, but you are hardly doing anything the majority of the time.

Most of the time spent making sourdough is passive time. You will be interactive with the dough for probably a total of 30 minutes. The majority of the time is spent letting the dough rise from the natural yeasts of the starter.

Also, baking is intimidating to people who haven’t done it. But the truth about baking is: most people can bake a loaf of bread without any problem, first try, if they have a comprehensive recipe in front of them (and a little confidence in themselves). The best part is, if you fail, you can make another loaf for relatively no money. Flour, water, sugar, salt, and yeast are the basics of most bread recipes and are all pretty cheap items!

So why does baking sourdough seem so hard? Because there is a weird idea (that I even had) that you have to be an extreme baker to take on sourdough. Of course, if you don’t already enjoy baking, sourdough may not be the place to start. It isn’t the easiest introduction into the bread baking world. Remember, shit’s not that difficult, so if you feel inspired give it a shot!

Sourdough series: what to expect!

I have a lot to say on the matter, but don’t really want to have one long convoluted post about all the fun topics regarding sourdough. Plus this way I can sucker you in to reading more of my nonsense. Below are some things I plan to discuss in my next couple of posts in my sourdough series.

• Sourdough starter – How to make it and how to use it
• How to make a loaf of sourdough bread!
• My recipe for sourdough bagels
• Other things to make with a sourdough starter
• Other assorted recipes and rambling…

See? Sourdough doesn’t even require that many posts to explain it. If people get all rowdy and want some science on why sourdough works, I can write that. I love using the science to bake better, and using the scientific method to try out new recipes. I know not everyone cares, so unless requested I will try to keep the nerd stuff to myself.

• Pinterest

Follow us on Pinterest to stay updated on our posts!