A Week of Sourdough In Real Life

how it actually works in a real kitchen

Hello my friends,

Anyone want to talk about sourdough?

On this week’s new YouTube video, we’re diving deep into how a week of sourdough baking actually looks in my kitchen. My hope was to show you that sourdough baking is actually versatile and contrary to popular belief, there’s a lot of wiggle room.

Because sourdough works slowly, did you know that you can often stretch proofing times by large amounts of time? More on this in the video…

I love sourdough baking as much as the next, but the reality is I’m a homeschooling, homesteading, business-owner who has to answer to a lot of schedule demands. My sourdough starter is not my baby (I’ve got four real ones of those) and frankly, I need it to pull its weight without requiring too much of me. (That’s why I opt for keeping a stiff-starter that only requires me to feed it once a week… more on this in the video as well.)

All that being said, sourdough bread is non-negotiable for our family. Because we’ve spent years cultivating not only our starter, but also our gut biome, we’re able to digest and enjoy lots of bread products each week. There’s no wheat belly, no constipation, no bloating. But this doesn’t just happen - high quality bread products demand time and attention.

If you’re on the fence about actually learning how to bake with sourdough in real-life, let me remind you a few important points:

• Stop trying to figure it out and just try it

• Nothing will teach you faster than first-hand experience

Alright, so that maybe wasn’t the most scientific answer re: sourdough’s benefit and digestibility, but there’s plenty of scientific research out there for those of you inclined to look up just how wonderful the health benefits of sourdough bread are. Stop beating this skill to death and instead, start baking!

A few notes on what you’ll see in the video:

• I use a bulk olive oil for my focaccia bread. I get a gallon from Azure Standard monthly for having an olive oil on hand to bake and roast with.

• I also use a bulk maple syrup to naturally sweeten my bakes, again, available from Azure Standard.

• Bulk einkorn flour is purchase from, you guessed it, Azure Standard.

• If you’d like to get started as a customer with Azure Standard, you can do so right here and use code ElliottHomestead10 for 10% off your first order. This promotion expires April 2024, and is only available for the first time Azure customer order, with a minimum of $100 order or more (orders to drop locations only). One time use per customer.

• If you’d like more information on keeping a stiff-starter, I wrote a blog and made a video about that a few years back, available right here.

• As much as I’d like to share my starter with the entire world, that’s not feasible, so instead I share pieces of it with my Cooking Community members exclusively. If you’d like a piece, join us!

Bagel Recipe

This is a recipe I use at least weekly. You can get the exact recipe right here.

Focaccia Recipe

The focaccia recipe featured in the video is piggybacked off a recipe that I created for Jovial Foods this past October. I follow the recipe as-is, but add in a cup or so of sourdough starter for additional flavor and digestibility. When I do so, I also decrease the amount of yeast used to just a pinch (or completely omit it all together). You can find that recipe right here.

That sumptuous Sourdough Honey Cake with Italian Meringue is a Cooking Community recipe from this past February and is available below the paywall for paid newsletter supporters. Every once in a while, I love to share recipes from CC with you so that you can peek behind the curtain to the recipes that we create and share over there. I hope you enjoy the video and the recipes… and most important, I hope you can see how sourdough baking can fit into the margins of your every day life.

Enjoy!

Sourdough Honey Cake Recipe