The Sourdough Bread Whisperer

I did it! I actually baked some sourdough bread. I learned that it is not a simple process. It is part chemistry, part work, timing, and maybe magic. How the gooey dough turns into a beautiful loaf of bread is quite an amazing process.

It all started when a friend who has often gifted me with her home-baked sourdough bread offered to share what she has learned. A true bread whisperer, she has perfected the art of baking sourdough bread. That's how four friends met one afternoon for our bread baking class.

Bread baking became quite popular during COVID when families were stuck at home and looking for things to do. The baking process takes lots of time, and everyone had lots of time on their hands.

So what exactly is sourdough bread? Sourdough bread lovers will tell you it involves texture, taste, and nutritional value. Sourdough bread uses a naturally occurring yeast and lactic acid bacteria culture, giving it a distinctive tangy flavor and chewy texture. Regular bread, often called commercial bread, is made with commercially produced baker’s yeast, leading to a quicker rise and a softer, uniform texture.

We arrived for our lesson with aprons, fresh kitchen towels, and Pyrex bowls. As we learned throughout our baking day, there is a need for many specialized tools and supplies. Our well-prepared teacher supplied the things we needed to create our loaves.

The first step is learning about the starter. The starter is a yeast mush consisting of flour and water, left on a kitchen counter to ferment and develop yeast. It requires daily care and feeding for as many as 30 days before becoming an active starter. We chuckled when she shared with a straight face that the starter she was using had to be fed regularly. We pictured a pet, not the lumpy mass in her large jar. She explained that once you've successfully created your own sourdough starter, you'll want to keep it healthy with regular feedings of flour and water.

Throughout the day, we learned techniques to work the dough, like "stretch and folds" and "coil folds," with carefully timed naps in between. Colorful towels covered the bowls containing our dough as it rested. In all there were five rests before the temperature of the dough was taken and the time left to bulk ferment calculated. When it was time to rescue our dough from its bowl, we practiced the shaping techniques our patient teacher demonstrated, and then we went back to the bowl for another rest and then final shaping.

At the end of the day, we went home with our bread wrapped for its final cold rest overnight in the fridge. The next morning, with great anticipation, I preheated my oven to 500 F and popped my bread in to bake. Soon, I had company in the kitchen — it seemed Big Guy smelled the bread and came to see what was cooking. When it cooled, we enjoyed a piece of my first-ever baked sourdough bread.

I have a newfound respect for anyone who bakes bread, especially sourdough bread. Nothing beats the thrill of opening your oven and pulling out a savory loaf of bread that you made with your own hands. I treasure my day with my friend the bread whisperer, the friends who shared, and especially all that I learned.