When you first start baking sourdough it can be challenging to bake a great loaf. There are many things to learn and each time you bake you will learn something new. The challenge is part of the joy of learning to master sourdough.
- Of course it is tempting to try and make your own starter. It’s a great idea, but it’s kind of like trying to build a car before you learn to drive. Sometimes it is better to find a robust starter that is already established. Most bakers will willingly share their microbes!
- Follow a formula from a sourdough baker. There are many recipes and formulas to choose from, but sourdough is an art. There are lots of blogs posts and books with recipes that simply don’t work, so try and find one that is from a baker and universally acknowledged as working! You can use my sourdough basic recipe
- Buy a thermometer. Understanding the variables without one is very challenging.
- Try and stick with one variety flour. Sometimes swapping flour can be the trick that makes a formula work, but in the main most bread flours make good bread, and an experienced baker will adjust the formula and times to suit the flour. My point is that the best way to become experienced is to repeat your bake and after a few times the way the dough behaves will start to feel familiar…and so with each bake you become more experienced.
- Talk to other bakers. I don’t necessarily mean pick up the phone, but Facebook, Instagram and Twitter often mean that you can chat to bakers all over the world.
- Plan your bake. Sourdough is about timing, and temperature. It is always a good idea to make sure you know your timings so you don’t suddenly find yourself having to leave your dough unattended…
- I know this is perhaps really obvious, and perhaps doesn’t need saying, but do refresh your starter. I always recommend that you refresh your starter once or twice a week whether you are planning to bake that week or not. It keeps the levels of microbes elevated!
- Keep a record. There are times that you make a loaf and it is spot on. The problem is that you won’t necessarily remember what you did the following week, so keeping a record is a great way to review each bake.
- Practice. Give your loaves away….neighbours, friends, random strangers walking past your house… keep baking and make more then you need to eat to start with…seriously the more you bake the better you will become.
- Go on a course. Or buy a really good book. Our New 10 minute book is a great place to start, and practice.
Direct Contact with Vanessa Kimbell
My first sourdough boule was a success and delicious. My subsequent attempts have been a dismal failure 4 of them ,
Wet pancakes and no attempt at folding have improved them so they went into the bin. I have now bought your book and am confused
About refreshing the starter or feeding the starter is this one and the same? Help please I want to make a leaving for this evening.
Thanks. Janet wright
Hello and yes refreshing the starter is the same as the starter – you need a lively starter at its peak.
I am making a sourdough with walnuts and cranberries. The hydration is 88%. Will my autolease be very thin?
Hi Joan. Walnuts and cranberries sound fantastic! It is quite hard to answer your question becasue there are so many variables to any recipe and I can’t really comment on other people’s recipes. Is the dough ambient or retarded, what type of flour are you using, how to add inclusions etc. All of this and more is covered in the Sourdough Club tutorials but you would need to become a member with a Sourdough Club subscription. More information on that is here: https://thesourdoughclub.com/join-the-sourdough-club/
Hi Vanessa!
I love your book and have been working from it for awhile. I have a question about the instructions for making a leaven. Some of your recipes call for 225 grams of leaven but the recipe for the leaven makes less than that. I would appreciate knowing what’s needed to get to 225. I’ve added extra fresh starter but this is probably affecting my bread. Thanks for the support!
I also came here to ask this exact question.
Hello Jennifer. The recipes here on the Sourdough School – the Sourodugh Boule asks for 100g leaven and the sourdough tin asks for 200g starter. The link to refreshing starter https://www.sourdough.co.uk/how-to-refresh-a-sourdough-starter/ shows how to refresh 25g statrter with 100g water and 100g flour- this should end up as 225g. If it slightly under that weight at the end then just use what you have. It is much more important that your starter/ leaven is in peak condition than if it is 10g less or so. There is much more information on starters in the Sourdough Club but you would need to be a member to get to them. https://thesourdoughclub.com/join-the-sourdough-club/ We would love to see you there.
I love your work and get a tremendous amount from your postings, but I have to say I disagree with point 1. I’ve had failure and success making starters, and have a wonderful one going for the last several months. I believe my understanding and, more importantly, appreciation of the sourdough creation process was significantly enhanced having raised a starter of my own. There’s a spirituality with sourdough and I don’t think you can truly get that if you’ve not raised and maintained your own starter. Plus, it’s not that hard to do!
Interesting thoughts. Thx.
Hi vanessa, I bought your book and I think is incredible but there is something I don´t understand and I wish you could help me. When you retard a dough overnight before shaping. Should I give it at least one fold or something or I just leave the dough to rest overnight on the fridge?
Yes a fold or two. Please see Book The instructions are detailed in there.
Hi Vanessa, it’s been a good number of years now since coming across Bakery Bits and therefore also being able to enjoy your recipes and writings about sourdough. Not to forget Patrick of course.
I’ve used a couple of yours or Patrick’s recipes over the years but mostly stick to my go to bread book (my only bread book ha ha) by Emanuel Hadjiandreou, called ‘How to make Bread’.
My starter, I’m proud to say, is nine this year. I first made it after watching Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall wander around his kitchen waving a jar of flour and water encouraging the viewer to “catch the wild yeasts”.
I was intrigued and immediately began making my own starter over the course of the following weeks.
Questions regarding yeast/starter:
I read a bit about yeast recently and realise there’s lots of them. The most common for bread seems to be Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. Will this be the yeast in my starter or could there be more?
Is it possible to turn white starter into rye starter by feeding rye flour. And then back if you wish? Through the years I’ve fed mine mostly with organic strong white bread flour, and also some wheat or rye wholemeal now and again. Never long enough to change the starter completely though.
I did make a rye starter once to make rye bread but found it difficult and didn’t use it enough so eventually discarded it.
When I first made my starter after watching Hue, I doubt I’d have used organic flour. However, not too long after I did move to using organic.
Is my starter now organic or must it first have been made using organic flour and only ever fed organic?
Ps thanks again for all the blogging information and recipes. Can’t believe after all the baking I’ve done I’m only recently wondering about yeast ?
Regards
Kenny
Hi Kenny – Rye is faster. You need to watch the Rye Tutorial.
Please see https://www.sourdough.co.uk/how-to-refresh-a-sourdough-starter/
Best Vanessa
Hi Vanessa, I recently bought your book and have a couple of questions if I may based on the starter. I made my own wholewheat starter but using your refreshment regime of 70g of water to 100g of flour it feels very dry, I’m using Gilchesters Flour and was wondering if this flour needs a bit more water?
Secondly, I note that on your basic loaf schedule you say that it should take between 5 and 8 hours to get the starter active enough to make the leaven. My starter takes between 16 and 18 hours and even then i don’t think it would pass a float test, is there anything I can do to envigorate it to the level that you say it should be.?
My kitchen temperature is between 18 and 20 degrees c and I have tried putting the starter in a warmer place but to no avail. Any help gratefully received, great book by the way!
Geraint
First wholegrain doesn’t float!
Second yes the timing are correct but another 10 or 30 ml is needed as each grain has different fibre & protein..
Happy baking.
V
I was baking sourdough for years and just not getting good results. I wanted big holes and chewy. Even built a wood oven. Went on your one day course and transformed my breat. It is great. Many thanks. Peter Simmondd
Thankyou Vanessa, I am going to try your basic recipe. I haven’t really got a specific recipe. I spend many hours looking at books and groups for sourdough. Your tips are great. I have made my own starters, 1 is white organic bread flour, the other is a white organic and wholewheat starter. They are on day 8 and bubbling. You are an inspiration and I will put a picture and comments on sourdough nation when I actually bake , probably day 14 .