Sourdough Bread: First Attempt

Before I dive into my first attempt at sourdough bread…..we need to talk about Fernandough! Have you named your sourdough starter? If you’re shaking your head and thinking I’m crazy then you would be right. Haha. However, your sourdough is a living thing that needs food and love to grow just like the rest of us. The least we can do is give it a name! Now if you haven’t already guessed it, my sourdough starter is named Fernandough.

The recipe I used for my sourdough sandwich bread can be found on The Clever Carrot website and it is under ‘Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread.’ All I needed to make the bread was all purpose flour, butter, sugar, sea salt, warm water, & Fernandough (my active bubbly starter). If you have a stand mixer then that would be helpful when making bread, but it is not a requirement. I did not have one when I made this.

I followed the recipe to a T, but when it came time to do the second rise…It did not go as planned. For this step, I let it sit for 2 hours like it said and when I came back to it, I was disappointed because it was not even half way there. I did everything I could to get it to rise more. I heated up ice packs and placed underneath it. I wrapped it in towels and placed it under the microwave light. Nothing worked. I ended up getting it about an inch or two from the top when it should have been an inch over the top.

If you follow many sourdough pages like me then you know that every time something doesn’t go right, the advice is always the same. BAKE IT ANYWAY! So, that’s what I did! I baked my bread and when it was done and I cut into it, I had enough bread to do half sandwiches. The bread was very tangy. I know sourdough bread is supposed to be SOUR, but I had never tried plain sourdough bread before and I wasn’t sure if this was ‘normal.’

I ended up taking some of it to work and asking what my coworkers thought. Don’t be afraid of constructive criticism. It will help you to evolve in the baking world. They all told me it definity tasted like sourdough and that I was on the right track! They also said it could use some butter haha. Next time I bring them samples, I’ll have to remember that.

If you read my previous page on Sourdough starter then you know that bread flour seems to be the better choice when feeding your starter. I was too excited about making sourdough bread to research this first. At this point I was also unaware that my friend had started her sourdough journey using bread flour with great success.

Well, you ‘live and learn’ as they always say. I have attached pictures of my first attempt. Subscribe to my page or bookmark it for later if you would like to follow me on my sourdough journey! Don’t worry, there will be plenty of laughs and first hand experience along the way. Until next time!

Sincerely,

Tiara