The homemade sourdough bread-making craze has been around for a couple of years. I can make a delicious artisan loaf but there is a science to making sourdough. I miserably failed the sourdough phenomenon..lol. Here’s my sad story.
My friend, Cheryl, gifted me a jar of fermented flour and water, aka, sourdough starter. As the new owner, my job was to feed it daily with additional water and flour by weight. Most sourdough bakers use grams instead of ounces which confuses me even more! The live culture needs a daily supply of water and flour or the yeast will die. That means no bread, or any recipe like pancakes or muffins, using sourdough. Geez..it was like caring for a baby.
Each morning my kitchen looked like a science experiment gone wrong. On my counter was a food scale, a wide-mouthed jar, scattered flour, spilled water, and a sticky starter smeared on my counter. Dang.
The process was more difficult than I anticipated. Why? Here’s my reasonings…first, I think you have to have a math and science brain. I couldn’t wrap my head around how many grams of water and flour you needed to add each day to your starter and how much you needed to discard so the yeast could get enough food without diluting.
My second problem was googling “sourdough”. There are hundreds of suggestions, directions, and experts giving their advice on best practices. Yeesh. Who’s advice do I follow? It was overwhelming.
I did make sourdough pancakes one morning after I thought my starter was ready for a trial run, but the amount of work leading up to it was too much. Breaking out the Bisquick is fine for me with no extra effort.
After a month of daily feeding and waiting for it to rise and fall, I stuck my jar in the refrigerator to keep it dormant. The next time I cleaned my fridge, the starter made it into the trash..lol. You can’t say I didn’t try. Turns out the sourdough bread-making hype is just not for me. I’ll stick to making my artisan bread.
The gorgeous loaf in the picture was a gift from my friend Kristen! Isn’t it beautiful? The crumb is perfect and has just the right amount of sour taste. It was delicious and happy for her that she found a new passion. Frankly, I’m jealous of her and Cheryl that they have tackled and exceeded the art of sourdough. I wish.
I think I’ll stick to right-brain activities…
Writer McWriterson
I’m with you! Too many steps for me….
myheartinpen
Right? My friends experimented and never measured precisely. Here’s me, weighing, everything and leaning down and making sure my ingredients are right on the line..lol. I was spent!
Writer McWriterson
I would be too. I have no patience for things like this. 🤣
Nicole MacPherson
It’s so funny you wrote this today – I just (literally, like half an hour ago) got back from a sourdough-making workshop and I was completely overwhelmed. So many steps! I’ve made that no-knead bread for years and I thought it would be similar, and wow, was it ever complicated. I could have bought some starter from the lady running the workshop but honestly I don’t think I can handle that level of bread commitment!
myheartinpen
Oh my gosh, what a coincidence! lol! I went to a pierogi making class last year and it was a cake walk compared to sourdough! I’m happy with making my easy artisan. I love it..”bread commitment” haha! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Melanie R
I am totally with you! My mom is into making sourdough bread and it has taken her 2 years to perfect it!! And she still says she needs more practice getting the design on the top just right. Sheesh. I don’t have enough patience for something like that. About 10 years ago, before the sourdough fad, I took a sourdough English muffin class in a woman’s house. It was fun and not too complicated, but only because she was doing most of the work! She sent us home with a starter, but like you mentioned, it was overwhelming trying to keep it “alive”, so it went bad and I had to throw it out. As for pancakes, you don’t have to use Bisquick! Homemade pancakes are super simple to make and SO much better. And no, you don’t need a sourdough starter. 😉
myheartinpen
Two years and your Mom thinks she hasn’t perfected it yet? I’m sure she makes beautiful and tasty bread! Sometimes halfway through the day I would forget to feed my starter and then get flustered because it made such a mess..lol. To be honest, my husband makes the best homemade pancakes without Bisquick. I just eat them..haha!