I know, I know, I know. I’m so late to this! I can’t really explain it but I felt called to get some sourdough starter The idea of sourdough and sourdough starter felt so intimidating that I was afraid to even start for months (and months). A friend encouraged me though and I finally decided to take the plunge and just try. (I really struggle with starting new things out of fear that I won’t be “good” at it, but it’s something I’ve been working on for a few years and I’m happy to report significant progress.)
Sourdough does seem kind of intimidating and I can understand why on the surface. Once I dove in though, I realized it’s really fun and there’s more wiggle room than it seems at first glance. Maybe if I were in culinary school or submitting my loaves for county fairs it would require a little more discipline. For now, it’s just fun and something to practice. There’s joy in that and that alone. The best part though is that even imperfect sourdough is still delicious!
I’m writing this post as an extreme novice. I’m at the very beginning of my journey. After talking to a bunch of people over DMs though, there seems to be a common hesitation that it feels to intimidating to start. I thought it could be helpful to share my novice perspective and what helped me take those first few steps. And while we’re here, if you’re more advanced, I’d love your recommendations for recipes, techniques, bakers to follow, tools, etc.
ONE // Start by watching videos
I love to complain about ~the algorithm~ but I’ll give the algorithm credit, if you want to learn about something watch a few videos… interact with the videos (comment, like, share, save) and boom, your feed is taken over by it in no time at all. I found this SO HELPFUL before even beginning. At first, I was watching the videos filled with jargon and foreign looking tools and so many steps and processes that I couldn’t begin to wrap my head around. Discard? Scoring?? Stretch and fold??? Bulk fermentation?!?! Unlike school where you’re forced to learn things by the book and according to the syllabus, this is like having all the things thrown at you at once. I was watching videos about folding techniques, discard recipes, pretty videos of scoring, day in the lives of professional bakers with microbakeries. All at once! It was a lot, but after a few weeks, some of it started to stick. The lingo started to have context. I found myself following specific creators more closely. I realized I could figure out my own sourdough feeding & baking rhythm that worked with my schedule. I was still insanely intimidated, but I at least sort of understood the very basic gist of it all. And that’s as good of a place to start as any.
TWO // Find your starter
While you can make your own starter from scratch, it’s better (and even encouraged, it seems like) to get a starter from someone else. This way your starter is “mature,” which as I understand it, makes for better bread. There are even heirloom starters that go back generations. There are various ways you can go about this like getting dehydrated starter from online retailers, asking friends and family, or even buying on Etsy. Because people discard their starter frequently for feeds, it’s really easy to acquire starter from someone else. I found mine through our town’s Facebook group. I met her at Starbucks and walked away with my very own sourdough starter! (Turns out she followed me on Instagram and sourdough is one of her husband’s hobbies!) It felt a little crazy, but this is all very normal (allegedly, haha).
THREE // Start with one recipe
So one thing that I realized quickly is that there is an art and a science to sourdough and along with that, there are endless ways to make your dough. You have to take in a lot of factors, like your schedule and your climate and the temperature of your house, so what works for someone in California might not work for you in New Jersey. What works for a mom who stays at home with her children most days might not work for someone with a full time job for which they commute into an office every day an hour away. But you kind of have to start somewhere, so pick a recipe and go from there. I found one with timestamps, which really helped me manage the mental load of figuring out how this all works.
This is the recipe I’ve been using! I’m not saying it’s the best, in fact it’s the only one I’ve tried . It has yet to fail me though. I’m not really rushing off to try anything new. It seems great for beginners and includes a video embedded in the page. I printed off the recipe and refer to the video between steps just to make sure I’m still doing the stretch and folds and what not correctly.
FOUR // Have fun with it
Honestly, I think the biggest thing I’ve taken away is just to have fun with it. It’s just not that serious. It’s bread. If it fails, worst case scenario you could run out to a store and buy a loaf at the grocery store. Record some videos for TikTok. Share your work with friends. Document the process just for your own personal files. Take zero photos and videos and just eat bread and butter for every meal. Bottom line: Have fun!
