If you’ve ever admired the tangy aroma of freshly baked sourdough bread or seeing others successfully make a sourdough starter, you aren’t alone. It has been on my to-do list to make sourdough from scratch for many months. This past fall, I finally decided to give it a try, and let’s just say, the experience was one I’m not sure I’ll be doing again anytime soon.
The path to achieving sourdough doesn’t begin with a recipe for bread – it starts with a starter. This living culture, built from scratch, is the key to great sourdough bread. While the process can be rewarding, it can also be frustrating and messy.
The first step in creating a sourdough starter is simple: mix equal parts flour and water. As I combined these ingredients, I was excited about the potential of what’s to come. This part of the process was easy. The flour provides the natural sugars that yeast feed on, and the water creates an environment where wild yeast and bacteria can thrive. You let the mixture sit, uncovered or covered, depending on your recipe, at room temperature. I stored my starter in a mason jar with the lid loosely on.
The next few days were filled with anticipation as the culture began to develop. It was an emotional rollercoaster at times. I wanted to see immediate results, however, I learned to be patient and let the starter work its magic. During this early phase, I didn’t see much activity, and my starter smelled a little sour. This is normal. So, for the next few days, I fed my starter, divided it in half and did everything the recipe said.
At this stage, the starter will smell more pleasant, often with a slightly tangy or yeasty aroma. It will also double in size within a few hours of feeding. However, some days, my starter didn’t appear to do just that. Sourdough is very dependent on its environment – temperature, humidity and even the types of flour used can all influence how quickly things progress. The good news is I was able to use the discard, or the unused part of the sourdough feeder, to make crackers and biscuits.
Once my starter was ready, it was time for kneading and baking. First, I had to add additional ingredients, such as flour, to create a firmer dough. Then, I started rolling and forming the dough into a loaf. This was a little tricky as it took a few tries kneading and reshaping the dough to get it to fit in my loaf pan.
After that, the sourdough needed some time to rise. Some starters may require longer fermentations, while others may rise faster. This is where the joy and frustration of sourdough happens. Each starter has its own personality, and every loaf is a learning experience. However, my part of this experience turned out to be more frustrating. The recipe I used called for milk and to place the bread in a spot at room temperature to rise. I was hesitant to do this, because I didn’t want the milk to spoil. I decided to move my dough to the refrigerator, since it needed to rise for a few hours. The results? It didn’t rise. This was a mistake on my end, and I should have listened to the recipe.
Finally, it was time for baking. My sourdough loaf baked well, albeit a little flat. The crust was golden and crackling, the inside was soft and airy with that unmistakable tangy smell. As for the taste, it wasn’t anything special, but it did taste like sourdough.
The experience of creating a sourdough starter and baking a loaf from scratch was a lesson and, moreso, a lesson in patience. It is one I would like to attempt again with a different recipe. However, I won’t be attempting it again anytime soon. The main piece of advice I can leave you with if you would like to make sourdough is to make sure you have the necessary time to feed the starter and let the bread rise. Once you have mastered these techniques, making sourdough bread will become routine in your house. After all, there’s a reason why sourdough has been a staple of human diets for thousands of years – it’s not just the bread that’s worth savoring, but the journey that goes into making it, as well.
