I know, I know. I know what you may be thinking… yet another article about sourdough. I will not apologize but I will reassure you that I’m not going to tell you how to feed it, if it’s bubbling enough or what it’s going to smell like once you first start (ew). This is more about the ‘why’ behind my own sourdough journey.
It all started in 2020 during the Covid crisis. Joking! Although I, along with many other people, woke up quite a bit due to that crisis, my relationship with sourdough recently just started. When I first heard of sourdough more than a few years ago, I didn’t pay much attention. I began to invest in more homegrown, trying to eat things with ingredients I could pronounce, starting my own veggie garden and consuming nutrient dense foods. All of a sudden, sourdough bread and recipes were everywhere! I researched the benefits and also tried an herbed sourdough, it was quite tasty. I have a girlfriend who was already in the thick of making sourdough. When I arrived at her house one day, the view in her kitchen was mason jars and dried flaky dough, bags with stickers, dutch ovens, proofing mats and a smell that made me want to cuddle. Yes, cuddle. Fresh baked bread will do that to many people. Don’t let the secret out, I’m not ready to date. Yummmmmm. Then my dear friend provided me with oil and balsamic for dipping. Only bad thing about it was that I had to share. ☹ She’s so committed too, committed as in she bakes enough sourdough now to be selling it, taking requests and force feeding her family because of its benefits. It’s admirable. She will most likely laugh or be embarrassed that I even mentioned her.
Off topic: that picture reminds me of my friend! My friend has green eyes though and in the 35 years that I’ve known her I’ve never seen her braid her hair…. but I don’t care, it still reminds me of her.
Fast forward seven months. I am on day 10 -ish of attempting to create, with my own two hands, a sourdough starter. I doubted it was working after only the first day so two days later, I started another one with different measurements. It’s flour and water. Two ingredients. How hard can it be? Anyway, I still currently have two mason jars of starter that are trying to start. Two is necessarily not a great thing unless you document in detail. At about the 5 day mark, I fed the wrong one or at least I thought I did, I still am not sure. I had both jars in front of me, I was already late in feeding one and I’m going mad. Like, I have two jars in front of me, if I don’t feed the right one, it’s all over, I’ll have to wait, I’ll have to order flour from the mill and it will take two weeks to get here and I don’t have that kind of time!!!!! At least that’s how I felt. So silly (I know that now hahaha)
I am happy to report though that although both of them rise and both bubble, one of them is looking pretty darn happy to almost be alive! My mom says it smells like feet still, I say it kinda smells like dough. It does. A little.
The thing with making sourdough though is that, like my daughter says “it’s not that deep”. It’s really not that serious. A lot of information is out there and there is so much in so many places and everyone has their own preferences. I’ve learned that you can either wait until your starter is active before you add it to your recipe or… no, you don’t have to wait. I’ve learned that it takes 5-7 days to have an active starter. Some others say it takes 10-14 days. I’ve seen that you need to buy 20 things to make it or you can go the realistic route and just use a loaf pan. (I did end up buying a dutch oven for this purpose and spending way more than I’ve ever spent on a dish before but hey, it’s pretty and now I have it and it’s multipurpose).
Now, for my reasoning. I’m tired of living thru life saying I want to do certain things and never doing them. What excuses have I given you might ask? No time, I don’t know how, I’ll be doing it alone, it’s too much money, it probably will not be as fun as I imagine, I can just look at that in a picture, they know I love them, no one is going to eat it but me. I have used every single one of those excuses for not doing the things I want to do. I truly believe God has me on a direction that pleases him and regarding sourdough, I’ll eat it for Pete’s sake! It’s delicious! Crusty outer and a warm soft center; my mouth is watering. Plus, I can use it to bless others.
There is something to be said about creating. I am not the creator but I am a creator. I have created paintings, drawings, pictures, delicious meals, homegrown vegetables and flowers planted from seed. Watching something grow from the beginning is something special indeed. It reminds me that the earth we live in is beautiful. It reminds me to slow down and appreciate creation and science.
If I knew then what I know now, wait, no, I told you I wouldn’t say do this or do that. One thing, just one thing that will save you SO much time. Pick one recipe and do NOT wander from it. There might be variations or methods that work better but you’re not concerned with being better, you’re concerned with just being. You will be tempted! You will read a different article or recipe and think what they’re saying is a good idea. Don’t wander! Save the article and move on.
So far, I do not have a living starter that is ready for baking bread. When I do, then I will begin the process of trying to bake an edible loaf. That’s a whole different post. Good grief. The way I see it, I could’ve not started my sourdough attempt. You know how that goes though, then one day I may wake up and wish that I had. I am no longer willing to be the person that watches other people do things I wish I had done. What about you??