If I can Sourdough, You Can Too
If I can Sourdough, you can too!
Seriously, I am not a baker and don’t do well with things that require precise measurements (ahem, like a scale) or are fussy and don’t have a lot of latitude. Well, I had to get over my fear of the scale (and learned it’s actually a lot easier and doesn’t dirty a bunch of measuring cups!) and found a recipe with a lot of wiggle room.
First things first though… why would one want to start their own Sourdough journey? It’s no longer 2020. We aren’t all cooped up at home needing to start a new hobby. But there are still so many reasons you might want to dive into the (delicious) world of sourdough. Here are a few:
You love the incredible taste of fresh, warm homemade bread. If you do not… I’m not sure we can be friends anymore and you should probably just stop here. But if you DO love the taste of homemade break and need a few more reasons…
Avoid the preservatives and “extra” that come in store bought bread. Here is an article breaking them down, but the top 5 you want to avoid are: potassium bromate, refined grains, high-fructose corn syrup, ammonium sulfate and L-cysteine. The average grocery store bread has 22 ingredients, some in the upwards of 30. For reference, this sourdough recipe has 6 if you count the starter. One way to avoid all those unnecessary ingredients: make your own!
It tastes SO GOOD. I know I mentioned that already but as I type this I am snacking on a warm slice, crunchy on the outside and fluffy and covered with butter on the inside. I just wish I could allow the taste to jump through the screen to you! IT IS SO GOOD.
It’s actually pretty good for you. Yes its 100% a carb, BUT the fermentation process and high fiber make it great for your digestion, blood sugar and gut health. Hooray!
Now, let’s get into the HOW.
Here is the recipe I use. My recommendation: read the whole thing over a time or two before beginning. Then adopt a short hand version to reference when you actually make the bread so you don’t make yourself go crazy re-reading the entire blog post while trying to cook. (I’ve included my short hand below if you want to borrow that!)
What you will need:
Kitchen scale (this is the one I have)
2 large bowls (Bonus points if they are not plastic)
Large jar for your starter (Weck jar is my fav)
Tea towel for covering the bowls
Wood spoon or dough whisk
2 loaf pans (this recipe does not call for the typical parchment and Dutch oven which I love, it’s less fussy, makes two loaves at once (winning) and is less crunchy and easier to slice and use more like normal sandwich bread. Of course if you want to fancy round version where you can make beautiful pictures on top with a razor, by all means do that! I just won’t be much help)
Good quality flour (unbleached. Not whole wheat, that requires some recipe changes)
Water (Bonus points if it’s filtered)
Oil (I use organic olive oil)
Sugar (I use organic coconut sugar)
Salt (I use Pink Himalayan)
Brown Rice Flour (for dusting your pan with- I find it works way better than using the same flour you bake with)
And now you are ready!
A few things to note that I wish I understood before starting and other various FAQ’s:
TIME: Yes, the recipe essentially takes an evening (Day 1), overnight, all day (Day 2), overnight and you actually bake the bread on day 3. This sounds extensive, but I promise, once you get the hang of it, it’s not. Just learn to plan ahead. That said, if you are never home, this might not be the hobby for you. Day 2 has multiple steps that all need to be done at certain times throughout the day, so you will want to be home for it.
The starter is a living thing. Don’t be scared of it. Think of it like a house plant. It needs some time and attention, you can leave it for about 2 weeks without doing anything but much longer and it might start to die on you. The better you care for it, the healthier it is, but there is a lot of wiggle room here.
If you do leave it for longer than 2 weeks, it will be “tired” and you might need to feed and discard a few times to get it nice and bubbly again before using in a recipe. (Feed and discard looks like this: you have 4oz of starter in your jar. Toss 3oz so you are left with 1oz. Feed it 1oz water and 1oz flour and sit on the counter all day and all night to rise and feed. Do this again for another day or two until it doubles in size easily and is nice and bubbly and happy again!)
Another note about the starter: don’t be afraid of the discard. This recipe actually leaves no discard (only enough starter to initiate your next round of bread) so you won’t stack up a ton of discard. If you WANT discard (because you saw a discard cookie, cracker, bagel, or pancake recipe you want to try, you can easily make some for yourself. Just follow the feeding scenario I described above but don’t throw any out. If you have 4oz starter go ahead and feed it another 4oz water and 4oz flour and let rise, pop in the fridge and you have discard waiting on you!)
Speaking of, what is the difference between starter and discard? Absolutely nothing. It’s the exact same thing: the living, fermented goo in the jar that you use to make bread with. You use active starter to make bread, anything left over is considered “discard” but don’t let that fool you, you will put that back in the fridge and pull it back out when you are ready to bake again. The word comes from those that feed their starter every day and leave it on the counter at all times. (NOT ME or this recipe) They remove some starter from the jar before feeding (so you aren’t swimming in too much starter), feed what is in the jar, and then either throw out (“discard”) the extra or save for a discard recipe.
Yes, I said “feed” – let’s chat about that too. The starter (fermented goo) needs two things to thrive: water and flour + warm temperatures. Anytime you “feed” your starter you are giving it more water and flour (usually in EQUAL measurements. AKA 2 ounces water plus 2 ounces flour) to “eat”. When it grows, it is fermenting creating tons of bubbles as it feeds off the water and flour. Science is amazing isn’t it?
Where do I get starter? If you are local to me in Texas I would be happy to share! Just ask! Otherwise you can make your own (google it, I have no idea how, but I hear it’s possible), find a crunchy friend to share theirs or you can buy dehydrated starter online. Just try to make sure it’s good quality!
I still have questions… this feels like a lot. REACH OUT! I would love to hear from you and answer any questions you have. My biggest advice is just GO FOR IT. It’s honestly minimal investment, if it totally fails you haven’t lost much, and once you do the recipe a time or two it will all start to click into place!
