bake sourdough bread

Made a yummy loaf this week—it has a really nice flavor that yeast bread is just missing.

I’m going to keep this on the list for awhile though because I want to figure out how to make sourdough bread using no yeast at all.

I got starter from a friend earlier this week. Now I just need to feed it until I have enough to bake.

My starter wasn’t up to snuff… I got unleavened, not very sour bread. Back to the drawing board I guess.

The sponge is currently proofing.

Mixed up some flour and water tonight and have found the warmest place in the kitchen for them (and told the roommate what it was so she didn’t dump it down the drain). We’ll see if I attract some native yeast!

This is such a simple goal – why haven’t I done this yet?

I even made my own starter from wild yeast. It’s a little tricky but the results were delicious. Now that the weather has cooled I will probably make more.

I have been baking sourdough bread for several years, but now that I’m retired, I’m having better luck with it. You have to treat the starter like a baby by giving it attention and feeding it. I didn’t always do that in the past. I like to make it without using any purchased yeast and only use the sourdough starter as the leavening. It takes much longer to rise but the flavor is much better.

A great book to read is Sourdough Cookery by Rita Davenport.

There are some dangers, but once you get it down it’s not harder than any other yeast bread. I made these 3 loaves today. One of them turned into a sub sandwich for dinner soon after,

I’ve been trying for years to get sourdough to work – never had any success, even with starters that others swear by. My other bread is pretty good (minor boast allowed) and I can make wholemeal with English flour that’s flexible enough to cut for sandwiches!
Any sourdough experts who can help?