An Apple Eats: My Sourdough Bread Making Journey

Hi! Hello! 👋

Welcome to another blog post of my An Apple Eats blog series.

Today I want to share with you how I started learning sourdough bread and my journey in attempting to make to it.

A few years ago was when I started to learn baking bread. It is my favorite skill that I can say I've learned so far. I got addicted to watching youtube videos about baking bread, reels, stories, etc. you name it. I got confident about making bread that it got to the point where I don't need to look at recipes and develop my own by experimenting ingredients and adjusting measurements to check what will make bread more tasty.

Then I stumbled across a few videos about artisan breads. While watching and reading about artisan breads, I was drawn to sourdough bread. The process seemed intimidating but I was really curious. I searched more videos about how to make it. From home bakers to professional bakers, I learned that they have different processes. But that did not discourage me from actually starting.

Sourdough bread is a traditional bread that is leaved with wild yeast developed from using only flour and water, meaning no commercial yeast is added. But the process of making one is long compared to making any white or sweet bread. Time is key in this process but it doesn't need a lot of ingredients. When making Sourdough itself we only need the starter, flour, water, and a bit of salt. Very simple as mentioned the process is complicated.

First of all, we need a sourdough starter that will act as our yeast. A starter is made by mixing flour and water that needs to ferment to develop wild yeast bacteria naturally. It usually takes a couple of days or even weeks to be able to make bread with a new starter. If you want to learn more about it, I found this link to be a good read about starting your own sourdough journey.

Instead of purchasing a starter, I decided to make my own from scratch. It took me a couple of days before I was able to make bread with it. Since it contains living organisms, people who maintains a sourdough starter names it like a pet or something. As a competitive human being, I also named mine.

Say hello to Anyeastasia 🤣

I remember I was so happy when I first made a bread with my starter. looking at it now, I can say I've made a lot of mistakes. But in the end it was still a good and delicious bread. I attempted making it with 100% whole wheat as well but sourdough with whole wheat was just so hard for me I got sad when I didn't make it right.

Here are a few of the breads I used to make when my starter was finally stable and active.

1st Bread with starter - Sourdough, crumbs are tight and not much oven spring

100% Whole Wheat - it's just sad and flat 😔

Ciabatta - this one is a success I would say, look at those crumbs

Whole Wheat Ciabatta (forgot the percentage) - somewhat successful?

I kept attempting at making sourdough with my starter but I just couldn't find the right process for myself. I got discouraged I stopped making bread with it. I only maintained the starter to add flavor to other bread and baked goods. When I moved, I brought it with me. But after a while, I completely left it in the fridge for about a year. Even though, I did not touch it anymore I didn't have the heart to toss it out. For about a year it went dormant and cold in fridge.

This year around late summer, I got motivated again after seeing so many videos in my feed about sourdough. I decided to revive my starter. It took me a while to revive it. I got sad after 3 days when I saw no signs of activity but still I kept feeding it. On the 5th day it finally doubled and I continued to feed it for a few days more before I made the first bread with it.

Anyeastasia is back

1st attempt after starter was revived. I know, it's sad and that bump is just so hallow inside

My first attempt didn't turn out well but the taste was really good. The oven spring is not even and there's a burst where it sprung. This did not discourage me though. I tried and tried again.

2nd attempt - it's very flat and overbaked but still tasted good

For my 3rd attempt I experimented, I made another starter from Anyeastasia by feeding it purely white flour. Anyeastasia is fed just as usual with white flour, whole wheat, and rye flour. I made sourdough with Anyeastasia and baguette for the experiment. Both bread looks nice but they were veeery hard on the outside and chewy on the inside. I was so afraid while slicing as might cut my fingers as well. 😑

Anyeastia(left), Experiment(right)

Sourdough (Anyeastasia), Baguettes (experiment)

My 4th and most recent attempt is somewhat acceptable. I decided to try a small portion this time. In case I will fail again, I don't have to suffer eating hard bread anymore. The oven spring and crumbs are somewhat okay. I was so happy when I finally sliced it. I think what really helped this time was my little kaldero that I used to act as a dutch oven 😆 So far this has been the most successful attempt yet.

4th attempt - look at those blisters

I have yet to try another attempt recently but I will keep on attempting to make sourdough until I'm confident about making a couple of loaves at a time. Maybe I'll experiment it to make a few sweet breads as well.

Here are some baked goodies I made with the starter discard to add more flavor.

Baked pancake with sausages

Pumpkin-shaped pandesal

Cheese Waffles - this was made just this week

Extra - this was a dehydrated part of Anyeastasia that I brought with me to the Philippines for my mother. It loved the tropical weahter.

Btw if you are into somewhat aesthetic videos/reels about baking/cooking or food related content, please follow my food account on instagram hahaha
https://www.instagram.com/an.apple.eats

Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog.

Eating-Apple,
Apple

PS: All photos are mine unless stated otherwise.