So it seems that most people got into sourdough during Covid time (2020-21). i admit, i was already baking bread regularly, and didn't really understand the appeal of sourdough. We have a local sourdough bakery here in Floyd, VA and my daughter started bringing home loaves from them and they were super delicious.
So when i had the opportunity to review a sourdough starter, i jumped at it! This sourdough starter by Sunrise Flour Mill worked wonderfully. i have never made sourdough before, and was really a bit clueless about the process. The starter comes dried and includes a booklet on how to activate your starter and bake your first sourdough loaf. The instructions say that you can bake with your starter on day 5, but my kitchen is pretty cold and my starter was not ready.
i continued to feed it and ended up moving it closer to my woodstove. It seemed to like that and began bubbling and doubled it's size after just a couple days. It has a wonderful sourdough smell. If you have never made sourdough before, i suggest watching a few youtube videos of the process before you start.
The booklet does come with written instructions, but i found i needed the visuals from video tutorials to really understand the stretch and fold technique and the shaping. One of these days i'll put together my own sourdough video to show my process.
This is my very first sourdough loaf. It wasn't perfect, but it was delicious. One of the fun parts of sourdough starter is that it's a living, symbiotic culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria that needs to be fed. If you are baking regularly, you can leave it out on the counter and feed it daily. If you don't plan to bake regularly you can keep it in the fridge and feed it once a week. Each time you feed it, you'll want to discard a portion of starter first. The discard can be given away to friends as a starter, or you can save it to use in discard recipes. Since starting my sourdough journey, i'm now making bread 3 times a week and cinnamon rolls and bagels once a week using the discard.
So, i'm a little late to the sourdough game, but i'm completely addicted now that it's cold and i'm stuck inside. i'm sure once garden season starts my baking may slow down. Although i can already imagine the amazing garden fresh sandwiches we can make with our homemade sourdough.
My usual disclaimer- i received this product at no cost in exchange for an honest review, my opinions are my own. As an amazon affiliate i earn a small commission from qualifying purchases
