Constantly seeing how making sourdough is soooo easy and that you’re lazy if you don’t make your own. (Poverty sub) So I finally took the plunge and made this starter 2 days ago. It’s clearly grown and according to the website, I gotta feed it tonight. YAAY!
But then I saw the other posts here. Crazy complicated stuff like measurements using grams. (Great I don’t have a scale and can’t afford one) results of rock hard bread, flat bread, special proofing ovens and bread pans, people using like 4 different kinds of flour for their starter and I just used whole wheat flour….
I’ve become intimidated very quickly and now wondering if I made a mistake to try and even attempt this…
by Briebird44
8 Comments
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I hear you. I made my own starter with AP unbleached flour from Walmart. I still use AP unbleached flour from Walmart. I use Ball jars that I already had for the starter and don’t use a scale to measure the ratio of my starter, I just eyeball the added flour and water to a certain consistency. I didn’t buy a scale until my starter was well-established, and really only then because most recipes are in grams. If you want one, you can save up a little (even a couple bucks a week) and eventually buy a decent scale for under $20 (I think mine was like $13 at Walmart). But there are def recipes out there that use cups/teaspoons as well.
If you’re just looking to make functional bread for you/your family, it really doesn’t have to be complicated at all. I have only gotten into sourdough recently but I do wonder, based on my experience wading through recipes/tutorials and interacting with the community, if COVID didn’t kind of ruin sourdough. Everyone got so into it during lockdown and now it can seem really snobby and complicated when I truly don’t think it has to be. I don’t have a Dutch oven, I don’t have bannetons or a Danish whisk or a wood-handle lame. I use a razorblade from a pack of 100 blades I found in my husband’s toolbox for scoring. 😅
If you really want to make sourdough, you can do it. Find a good workhorse recipe that seems manageable and go with that. I find sandwich bread easier than artisan, at least to start with.
It’s easy to get to a place where you can make functioning good bread but it takes a lot of work and time to really master sourdough baking.
I found this sub after doing 3 bakes with mine. I’m still very new but I see a lot of people stressing out over little details that I never even considered…My 3 bakes have worked out great. I have a scale, but didn’t use on my first time. I meausred out in cups and tbsp per a recipe only the find out the next time I measured it that I was off by 125g flour..Now on my first batch I noticed it was very dry and I added more water, I eyeballed it. No measuring as I thought my measurements were right. Guess what – it turned out great and was enjoyed by my family.
I’m sure an expert could pick out my bread in a lineup, but my bread tasted great to me. Maybe I’ll become more picky as I go, but I assure you – your bread will likely be just fine. you’ll probably mess up a recipe at some point, but everyone does. Remember, those who are worried about their bread being a little dense, or not having the right “crumb” whatever that is, probably have been doing this a long time and have learned what they like. as a new person you’ll be just fine, it really is easy to make bread that tastes good.
Yaay on the starter! That was a bold move- making your own starter.
This was 100% me when I started making sourdough and came to this subreddit. Find one recipe and stick to it. Everyone has their own opinions and everything works (in a slightly different way). I bought the smallest bag of all purpose and bread flour when I started. I did not have a Dutch oven or the budget to buy a new one so I bought an aluminum roasting pan at a thrift store for $4. I still use it and it works perfect! I use one of my lunch boxes lined with a cheese cloth as a banneton. I’ll work great!
Good luck with sourdoughing and welcome to the club!
Don’t overthink it.
I have never used a scale to bake bread, I don’t have a special pan or Dutch oven or whatnot. I did get some bannetons, but I don’t even use it because my dough is not firm enough to hold (which is because I use low-gluten flours). The only fancy thing I use is a Danish whisk, but you could just use a fork instead.
Yet, I bake very decent bread. Decent enough that my gf now complains when there’s no bread on the table, and friends get a wahou effect when they taste it. I do use rye/einkorn but you’ll actually get a better texture with whole wheat bread because you’ll have more gluten to support it. It’s not very beautiful, but OMG it tastes good.
Without a scale, the results will vary. But just having made a sourdough-based bread means it’ll be much more tasty and fluffy and 90% of other breads. It’ll take a bit ot trials & errors to know how much water to use but you’ll quickly get the hangs of it. For me, the top rules are:
* Use more salt than you think you need (it will be balanced by the sourness of the bread)
* If the dough feels dense (like, it takes strength to actually mix it), add water, but not so much that it becomes liquid obviously
* Ferment in the fridge for 36 hours before baking
Don’t worry too much, this sub stresses me out too and I’ve been doing the sourdough stuff for a few months with good loaves! I feed my starter exclusively whole wheat flour cause that works for me! I would suggest getting a scale when you can just because it’s more accurate. Mine was like $15 on Amazon!
I’m no expert but I’ve made some pretty good bread so here’s my advice: don’t stress. I saw someone say that Ma Ingalls kept her starter going in the back of a covered wagon so we’re overcomplicating things. I’d say sourdough is as easy or hard as you want it to be. There’s some good advice out there but there’s also LOTS of advice out there. Stick to one source (I like King Arthur), nail the basics, then take it further if you want.