Adventures in Sourdough

April 1 (ish)

Someone of Facebook: These biscuits are so yummy!

Me: I do like carbs. How hard can it be? This recipe says day 1: mix water with whole wheat flour. I’ll get some flour at the store this week and we’ll be off to the races!

April 15

Ok, that took longer than I thought, but now I have whole wheat flour and am good to do. Let’s read the rest of this recipe and. . . . well shit. Whole wheat flour isn’t going to get me past day 1.

April 26

I have two kinds of flour! Let’s get this party started.

April 28

So far I missed the first feeding, and then when I did feed it, forgot to discard 1/2 first. So if following the directions well is a key to success I do not foresee yummy bread in my future.

April 29

Watched this video.

dispair ensues.

May 4

Start Googling “troubleshooting sourdough starter”. If this stuff is supposed to rise, I have a problem. King Arthur to the rescue. Decided to try another whole wheat flour feeding.

May 10th

We have lift off. Time to get started with this recipe .

May 11th

Totally counts as bread. Tasty, but super dense, and not at all brown.

And beyond!

For my second loaf, I tried this cold dutch oven method. With the same recipe. The bread still didn’t brown and the top looks gummy? The bread still tasted good though so while I won’t be opening a bakery soon, I’m pretty happy with the results.

Plus, even if I never make another loaf of bread, these popovers and these crackers will be worth the price of admission.

Tell me your secrets!

Are you making sourdough? What do you do with all the discard? When you make bread, does it brown? Does it rise enough that you never question its bread like qualities? Explain to me what I’m doing wrong.

Full disclosure. That pretty bread in the featured image? Stock photo. I’ve never made anything that looked that much like real bread.