Sourdough rhythm
/I used to really overthink sourdough. And, because of that, I didn’t enjoy the process, and I rarely kept a starter going, beyond a couple bakes.
I started baking small batches, often, leaving my sourdough starter on the countertop all the time. It’s been there for weeks now, with a tea towel. I suppose that will come to an end, keeping it covered with only a towel, once spring is in full swing and flies and fruit flies become a hassle again.
But, I think my aha! Moment with sourdough, and why it seems so easy to some and so complicated to others, happened when I took my starter along on a trip to our yearly campout, and made bread at the campfire.
I had my starter, flour, water and salt. And the supplied dishes in the cabin. I didn’t have all my usual tools and kitchen toys; not even my favorite bowl.
And it was in that moment, when I thought about my pioneer ancestors, who made bread because they had to feed their family. I’m betting they didn’t worry about hydration percentages. They used what they had, and experience, and baked bread.
My dad likes to tell a story of a great aunt or grandma, kneading bread and reaching over to feed the wood cook stove with dried cow pies, and returning to the kneading. I don’t know if it’s true. But, I know they didn’t have a fancy mixer, special bowl, or a way to tell if their sourdough was a particular hydration. For the most part, they were surviving. It always amazes me how much grit and perseverance our pioneer ancestors had.
So, I stripped off all the “required tools mindset” and used whatever flour I could find in the little town next to the campground. It wasn’t organic, and it was probably bleached. I dumped my starter in a bowl, kneaded it in the bowl with my hands, and baked it in the fire. It was fantastic.
And, it reminded me that although I love to read bread books, and even geek out over the science of what all goes on, bread is really quite simple.
So, sourdough, or wild bread; bread leavened with the wild yeast in the air…can be complicated or it can be super simple. I choose simple.
And what has made it so much easier, is making it a rhythm or habit. I’ve done it enough times and in close succession, that I’m past the part of thinking through the steps.
But, to get there, you have to make a lot of bread. Or, make bread often. I fell in love with the dutch oven method, and those loaves bake better if they aren’t so big. And, once wild bread/sourdough became a part of my natural rhythm in the kitchen, making enough bread for 2-3 days, and repeating, takes only minutes of actual work a day. The rest of the time, I’m doing my usual thing. Why 2-3 days? Well, part of that is because I like bread really fresh. The other part is because that keeps me from having too much starter on my countertop.
That’s what I would hope for anyone who wants to bake bread for their family; for it to become so common place, that it falls in rhythm with their life.
And feel free to geek out on the terminology of sourdough. I do. I love the science of it. But, for me to get to this point where it’s effortless to bake bread, naturally, with only water, flour, and salt and have it taste incredible, I had to cut it down to the basics and pretend I was a pioneer. (I do use my Bosch mixer most of the time at home! But, it’s the theory of it… Bread is not complicated. If it were, would we have expressions about daily bread, or staff of life? I don’t think so.)
Your friend and currently daily blogger, because I’m on a facebook fast. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Twelve days in and I have to say, no facebook posting aside from my challenge groups, and companies that are only on facebook, has been incredible!
Anne Dovel
Sourdough sandwich bread
Baked on vacation, this sourdough sandwich bread is flour, water, salt, honey and milk. No commercial yeast added.
