How to Make Sourdough Bread: The Deflating Truth

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First: The Deflating Truth (and yes, that’s a bread dough pun)

At the risk of running those of you off, who are seeking to learn how to make sourdough bread, I’m going to tell you a hard, perhaps deflating truth: making truly excellent sourdough bread at home is not for the faint of heart. Nor for those who only like EASY recipes.

There are much, much easier ways to make great artisan bread at home. I’ve done it. I’ve shared one of them on this blog.

But those recipes AREN’T sourdough. And if you’ve ever left your heart in San Francisco, and part of that experience was enjoying their exquisite sourdough bread, or if you’re at least a more determined and inquisitive cook who thinks, “Nevertheless, I bet I could make something like that”, well, then, you’ve come to the right place.

Because, you can.

Why Are There So Many Sourdough Toads? I’ll also tell you after baking with sourdough for several months, that it’s a little bit harder to find reliable, helpful information on the internet regarding sourdough than you might think. There’s information out there that is just bad, or poorly written.  I wish there were more and better books and blog posts on it.

Let’s put it this way: I kissed a lot of Sourdough Toad Recipes before I found my Sourdough Prince Charming Recipe.

So maybe this is a post whose time has come.

A Second Deflating Truth Regarding Making Your Own Homemade Sourdough Bread:

Here’s another deflating truth: making your own sourdough bread takes a lot of time, and a lot of flour.

It also takes throwing a lot of goop down the sink.

Either that, or careful planning and wonderful recipes for use with the goop you might have thrown out.

I’m a frugal sort of gal. It’s really painful for me to read that I have to stir together perfectly good ingredients, and then “discard” large portions of it. You’re going to have to trust me on this when I tell you that you might as well resign yourself to doing this.

I HAVE discovered a recipe for pizza dough that I can make when my starter is happily fed, and it’s the last time I’m supposed to discard that last amount of starter. And I’ll share that recipe with you, too, in an upcoming post. I’ve seen cracker and waffle recipes out there as well. But for now, I want you to be prepared that throwing large portions of your starter away as you go is just a part of the process of getting your starter up and running.

How I Got Into Making Sourdough Bread

I stumbled into making sourdough bread. My neighbor had purchased a starter via the internet from King Arthur Flour. It’s from an original starter that is over 200 years old, which is pretty cool. Her starter arrived in a little jar in the mail with instructions on how to hydrate and feed it and bring it into working order, so to speak. I think she kind of blanched when she figured out how much work there is to this process, and called me up to see if I might want to adopt it.

Puppy vs. Sourdough

My dog Deacon died in July. My husband can’t be talked into another puppy, as of yet, and my maternal instincts were needing something to nurture. “Sure!” I said. “I’d love to play with a sourdough starter.”

So, I took it in, and it has taken up residence in my accommodating fridge. So, that’s another thing a prospective sourdough parent has to consider: where will you KEEP the baby?

Because yes, I’ve gone that far over the edge: it’s become my “baby”.

And you will too, if you embark upon this journey. Sourdough is a living thing. I found out from talking to an Italian wine maker friend that the Italians call their starter, “the mother”!!! So I’m not that far out there alone, apparently. 

In fact, my Italian friend Eros told me that when he left Italy to come to the US on a business trip, to sell wine, that he left his wife with strict instructions on how to care for his sourdough starter while he was gone. And when he called home to see how his wife was doing while he was away, she gave him a moment of panic when she sadly said to him, “I’ve killed your mother!!!”. (It all turned out OK. His sourdough starter was able to be brought back to life, by further feedings, and the woman who gave him birth was still hale and hearty, tending the family vineyards. 

Here’s my little bun in the oven. Isn’t he precious?

Two Options for Where to Store the Sourdough Starter

1. You can keep the starter out on the counter. If you choose this option, you will have to feed it every day. Feeding it involves adding a very specific amount of flour and water, mixing it up, and discarding a very specific amount. Unless you are a very dedicated baker, who bakes often, I do not recommend this option. The advantage to this method is that your starter will always be refreshed, and you can begin any sourdough recipe that very day. The disadvantage is that you will be going through a butt-load of flour to keep your sourdough starter-baby fed and happy. It would be wise, in fact, to buy stock in Gold Medal, Pillsbury, Martha White, or King Arthur, if you plan to go this route.
2. You can store your starter in the refrigerator. The advantage to this method of starter storage is that you do not have to feed your starter everyday. The downside of this method is the TIME involved to get a recipe up and running: you can’t just take your starter out of the refrigerator and bake with it any old time you want to. When you take the starter out of the fridge, you have to stir it together, feed it flour and water, throw out the extra, AND give it 8-12 hours to bubble up, and THEN repeat that ENTIRE process two more times. 

If you’re actually following closely what I just said, you probably think that I really explained something wrong, but I assure you, I didn’t. Let me give you a “for instance”. (I always did better in Algebra class if they plugged in the names “Bill” and “Sally” rather than Person A and Person B, so here’s a more concrete example.)

If I take my starter out of the refrigerator on Sunday night for its first “refreshment”, I will not have a loaf of bread till WEDNESDAY NIGHT. Are you tracking with me here, people???

THIS is why I said making your own sourdough bread is not for the faint of heart.

But is it an investment of time, flour, and effort that is worth making?

Well, I think so, or I wouldn’t be writing about it. But only YOU can determine if it’s right for you.

So, in upcoming posts, I’ll tell you:

1. The BEST ingredients to use, because using the exact ingredients really DOES make a difference.
2. How to Refresh and Maintain a Sourdough Starter. 
3. The actual Recipe for Making Sourdough Bread. 

Here’s hoping I haven’t scared you off completely. What I really HOPE to do is to inspire some brave, but informed soul to take on this eminently rewarding challenge.ow about you? Have you ever tried making sourdough bread?

Think you might be up for the challenge?
Do me a favor and share this with your bread baking friends.