Sourdough ain't for sissies!

I began my sourdough bread batch about 30 hours ago after thinking about doing this advanced baking method for about, oh, 2 years. Procrastination aside, I'm glad I finally am doing it, having receiving my "starter" through the mail a few days ago from the King Arthurs people up in Vermont - or is it New Hampshire? The small plastic container it came in is about the size of a small jar of petroleum jelly. (don't try to take this on a plane, it would probably be confiscated)

The bit of dough in the jar looked like a science experiment, and that's what it is, really. It's fermentation - the subject of many student biology projects in schools across the country, I'm sure. Natural fermentation at work, no store bought yeast in this bread.



sourdough rolls with chocolate and raisins

It all begins by adding water and flour to the starter, mixing, and then letting time pass. That's why I started this on a Sunday morning, so that there would be plenty of time to mix and set aside for a few hours and mix and knead and feed with flour, etc. Hey, I haven't had good sourdough bread since leaving San Francisco many years ago, this is exciting!



sourdough and more recipes at Amazon books

After many hours of the aforementioned steps, I finally had a dough to split into loaves, which would, over the next 2 hours, rise again.



sesame biscuits with toasted sesame seeds...