Raise your hand if you were one of the million people who tried to get into the sourdough craze that happened during quarantine! Me!!! LOL. I failed miserably. Well, I guess I didn’t fail because I made plenty of things like crumpets and pancakes! But I never made a loaf of sourdough bread before I decided to say goodbye to my starter. And by the way, doing that in 2020 when everyone was stuck at home, hoarding toilet paper and food, making it difficult to even BUY flour…well, it was a recipe for disaster 😉 AND it just made me feel like I was responsible for keeping yet another “pet” alive and happy. I didn’t last long. And it sure left a “sour” taste in my mouth. LOL. But all of that happened before I discovered milling (which I started doing in January 2023)!!!

Now, let’s jump ahead a couple years. Global pandemic has simmered down. I discover milling. I jump, and I mean JUMP into the world of fresh milled flour. I am ready to bake EVERYTHING with it! Including sourdough! Thankfully, in one of the Facebook groups I listed on the home page, I found Elly from Elly’s Everyday Whole Grain Sourdough (she’s also a soap-maker)! She makes starting and maintaining a sourdough starter SO simple that it was no longer a burden to me! And she has fabulous recipes and a YouTube Channel! Around that same time, I also found this site, True Sourdough, another informative site for sourdough bakers! Now I have a starter named Bubs because he is so bubbly! He lives in my fridge most of the time and I feed him about once a week. Easy peasy! It’s wonderful to have some starter, it boosts flavor in many recipes! Just add a dollop!

Here are a couple recipes of Elly’s that I loved doing as a beginner! The Approachable Loaf and her Burrum Farm recipe. These link over to her YouTube! Here is her playlist about starters as well. Even if you don’t want to make a sourdough loaf, there’s pizza recipes and all sorts of other things you might want to have starter for!

There are lots of options for baking sourdough. I likes to bake in a covered dish so steam is created which helps the crust. Many sourdough recipes use pretty high temps and use preheated baking vessels as well. I ran out and bought an expensive “bread oven” by Le Creuset (left) and regret it! I should have done more research. I already owned a Dutch Oven (center) which would have been just fine, probably better since it’s not black as black tends to burn easier. Eventually I got the Emile Henry ceramic covered loaf pan (the red one on the right) and I use it alllll the time. You can use a dish that is not covered but you’ll have to add steam to your oven. I’ve seen people put ice cubes on a tray on a lower rack, or pour boiling water on a pan. You can google for the exact method!