Sourdough Lessons and Baking Bread

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I’ve always enjoyed making & devouring home made breads but the idea of sourdough has always been a bit daunting for me. I am in no way shape or form an accomplished baker and you have to nurture it every day making sure your starter is fed and a happy temperature. It’s also tricky, because you can’t spontaneously decide to make a loaf of yummy bread. I know baking isn’t all Instant Gratification, but, it’s usually a 2 hour max deal for me. And let’s be real, we are a culture of instant gratification. I don’t wait to watch shows, I binge watch entire series on demand. I have Amazon Prime. I post pictures of my kid on Instagram and get little notifications that people “like” it within moments. I didn’t feel like I was really cut out for sourdough.

Now maybe analogizing my feelings into bread woes seems a bit extreme, but, I think there’s some truth here. I think deciding to create a “sourdough starter” was the beginning of a shift. I’m raising a little human. My childhood was full of imaginative days trying to conquer boredom. That’s going to be hard to pass on to him in this digital NOW age. And maybe a delicious carb filled lesson in patience will be good for both of us.

So I started a little canister of flour and water. (still in the market for a good name for it.. leave me any you have in the comments!!)

This little glass jar has been a little demanding and hard to remember at times, but, over the past 2+ weeks, we’ve made 3 loaves of delicious bread which have to be started the night before. We’ve made two batches of whole wheat crackers which take all day to come together. And I’ve learned to work my whole meal plan for the week around a few days of baking.

It may all seem like this isn’t a big deal, but let me tell you, it has totally shifted my kitchen mentality and has almost meditatively given me patience and focus on end goals.

Interested in starting your own canister of Kitchen Patience? The end results are worth it… let me tell you. Once you’ve got that bad boy up and running, you’ll need to decide how often you plan to bake with it. I keep mine on the counter and bake with it 2-4 times a week, keeping it fed every day. If you think you’ll bake with it once a week or so, keep it in the fridge, take it out and feed it the night before you bake. It will reactivate the wild yeasts & be ready to go!

• • Day 1

• • Start with a ceramic or glass container with a lid.
  • Add 1 cup of flour & 1/2 cup of water
  • Keep container in location between 67 & 70 degrees
• Day 2
  • Take half your starter & dump it
  • add 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water & stir
  • Return to happy nesting spot
• Days 3 – 7
  • twice a day (roughly 12 hours apart) dump half your starter & feed 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup water
  • on day 7, take a spoonful of starter and drop it into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready to bake! Otherwise, keep feeding & nurturing.