First Sourdough loaf ala starter and bread recipe from Emma Christensen of The Kitchn.

I haven’t given much thought to sourdough, even as my artisanal bread baking self-education has progressed. (Progression outlined at the end of this post) But, on the tail of the The Kitchn Cure that was responsible for spurring me to install kitchen cabinet hardware, there was The Kitchn Baking School. I did not do the lessons, but I did follow the posts, the linked instructions and the comments. Last week was bread and end of the week was sourdough. I still wasn’t thinking I wanted to fool with starter, etc. but a blurb somewhere about the process bringing out flavor… I decided to give it a try.

The starter is made by combining flour and water and letting it sit at room temperature. Normal yeast and bacteria in the air combines with the bit of yeast that is naturally in flour (and the air) and the mix begins fermenting. The basic starter recipe is a daily feeding with the starter being ready for use by day 5. As the week progressed, I did further reading from other sources and found bakers vary on length of time and how much starter to discard daily – yes, you discard some and then feed on. One of my favorite sources: Della Fattoria Bread by Kathleen Weber, suggests 10 days and goes on to say that really 3-4 weeks is best to develop full flavor.

I started this first loaf at day 5 per the recipe instruction and how the starter looked and smelled and because patience is NOT one of my virtues.

Right out of the oven!

I did not carefully read the slashing instruction – for sourdough, you are to slash almost horizontally to give the finished loaf the characteristic “ledge”. I slashed the way I normally slash so my loaf looks like a normal boule. It doesn’t affect taste, but next time I will remember.

Inside, things look good…

…very good!

A nice crunchy crust, a soft crumb with good air holes and texture. The slices make good toast AND they are soft enough to make a great sandwich as well.

This morning: sourdough toast with lox, onion, capers, goat cheese and a scrambled egg. Friday started deliciously!