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How to maintain a sourdough starter

People love to start things. Like making resolutions to go to the gym after New Year’s, a lot of people start things but kind of give up after a while because things get hard. Starting is sometimes easier than maintaining, but lucky for us maintaining a sourdough starter is really easy. Easier than a chia pet or a tamagochi pet, they can be forgotten for weeks, months, or even longer and will spring back to life with just a little bit of TLC.

Check out the how-to video below and see just how easy maintaining a sourdough starter can be.

13.01.17 By nick Leave a Comment

How to Make a Sourdough Starter From Scratch: Day 2

In the previous video, I showed you how to “start” your sourdough culture. In today’s video, I’ll show you how to clean and feed your culture. By this time tomorrow, your culture should start showing more signs of life by having bubbles and becoming more airy!

Presently your culture shouldn’t look too different than it did yesterday. It may have a hint of a sour odor, it may have released a little bit of water, and it may also look exactly the same. There are variables to its behavior, namely flour type, contents in your water, and temperature at which it was kept.

12.01.17 By nick Leave a Comment

How to Make a Sourdough Starter From Scratch: Day 1

To a home baker, there’s no better feeling than pulling a beautiful artisan crusty bread out of the oven that was made with a homemade sourdough starter. The sense of accomplishment and pride is just amazing, and I love sharing those loaves with family and friends.

While everyone is awed by the loaf and your skills, you know that it really wasn’t all that hard. And maybe that’s the best part!

That’s why I want to show you how to create a sourdough culture from scratch, how to grow it and feed it, so you can have your very own homemade sourdough starter. It only takes a few days to get it going and the results will last you a lifetime. You can even share it, give it to your friends, and teach them a new hobby!

10.01.17 By nick Leave a Comment

7 Best Bread Pictures of 2016

As 2016 came to a close, the online bread community baked a lot of amazing things. From yeasted to sourdough, flat to puffy, the world is filled with talented bakers. Check out our pics for the 7 best bread pictures of 2016 and get inspired!

Homemade Blue Corn Tortillas
These aren’t your average homemade corn tortillas! They are scratch made with home grown blue corn! Top that!

15.12.16 By nick Leave a Comment

How to make good bread? Practice!

As this year starts to wind down, I wanted to share with you a quick picture to encourage you to keep baking and never stop experimenting!

Not all of my bakes are home runs, not all of them are delicious, and certainly not all of them are blog worthy! I probably experiment with my baking more than most and the picture above proves it.

Here are a few of my key takeaways for this year:

Keep a baking journal. I started doing this last year to keep track of my bakes, especially if I’m trying out a new formula or using new ingredients. This can be on your phone/tablet like the ones on black friday 2022, or a text document on your computer, or even the old fashioned spiral bound notebook. Whatever it is, use it! It helps you look back after a bake and critique yourself. Should you have let the dough proof longer? Note it! Should you have used less yeast? More water? More salt? Note it down and try again with your new ideas!
Pay attention to the temperature. After you’re done mixing your dough, take a probe thermometer and note down the final dough temperature (FDT). Next time you bake, use colder water and see that it will take longer for the dough to proof. Then the time after that, use warmer water to see that the dough proofs faster. Find a temperature that fits your schedule and run with it.
Preheat your oven. I usually time my bakes so that I’m loading the loaves in the oven after the kids have gone to bed and I’ve had a chance to finish up my to-do’s. This ends up being around 9pm. Sometimes I get a late start and it’s tempting to put the bread in the oven before it’s fully ready. This compromises the final product and all the effort you put in to making the bread. Always preheat your oven and make sure things are good and stable! If your oven is drafty like mine, use a dutch oven or a le cloche to provide a more stable environment for the bread.
Have fun! By far the biggest reason why I bake is because I think it’s so fun to just make something so delicious at home. Next time you’ve loaded your loaves in the oven, wait 10 minutes and step outside for 5 minutes. Come back in your house and smell that delicious bakery smell right in your own home. You’ll be amazed, surprised, and even encouraged to keep at it. Get dirty, make bread, and have fun!