Perine - Whole Grain Sourdough Made Simple: Easy Recipes for Artisan Loaves and Specialty Breads

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Photography 2021 Laura Flippen; Tom Story, Courtesy of Emily Brenchley.

ISBN: 978-1-64876-413-4 | eBook 978-1-64739-414-1
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To my sister, Emily, who always inspires me to try new things

CONTENTS

Before we dive into the wonderful world that is sourdough, let me first introduce myself. My name is Heather, and I love to bake. And what I love to bake the most, as you can probably guess, is sourdough. Its like part magic, part science.

As a child, I baked chocolate chip cookies like most kids, but my childhood was mostly spent outside. I grew up on a farm, raising animals, horseback riding, and growing vegetables in our family garden. I first honed some of my baking skills as a member of 4-H for more than 10 years. Then, when I was in my 20s, I took a cake decorating class that changed my life. After that, I became passionate about baking. Who knew that 15 years later I would have a baking blog sharing my own recipes and become a published cookbook author! As I tackled more difficult baking projects, I tried my hand at the ultimate baking challenge: sourdough bread. I fell in love with the process and here I am today, telling you that you, too, can learn to make sourdough, no matter what your baking experience.

As my sourdough journey progressed, I began to experiment with whole-grain flours. My original intent was simply to make a more nutritious loaf. If Im being honest, I was a bit skeptical. I thought that to increase nutrition I would have to sacrifice texture and flavor. I could not have been more wrong. I discovered that using whole-grain flours produced a more flavorful loaf in the end.

There may be many reasons why you want to learn how to make whole-grain sourdough bread. Whether its because you are ready to experiment with your own sourdough baking, or you are just looking for ways to make a better loaf of bread, I want to give you all the tools necessary to achieve your baking goals. Thats why this book is divided into two parts. Part I is all about the fundamentals of sourdough bread baking so you can take a deep dive into how the magic happens. Part II is where all our delicious recipes live, waiting to be discovered.

People devote their entire lives to mastering the art of sourdough, but that doesnt mean a beginner baker cant be successful. I, myself, am a self-taught baker, which is why I believe anyone can bake sourdough bread. My goal with this book is to show you how simple it is to bake whole-grain sourdough bread, full of nutrients and flavor, in your own home.

I hope my tips and recipes will give you the confidence to begin baking and inspire you to create wonderful food memories along the way.

Although you may be tempted to head straight for the recipes, these first two chapters are crucial to setting you up for success, so dont skip them! These beginning chapters contain everything you need to know to grow your own whole-grain sourdough starter and put it to use in the kitchen. In , I cover essential information, such as basic equipment needed, sourdough hydration, making your dough, and, finally, baking with it.

Although I will cover a lot of information in these chapters, baking whole-grain sourdough bread can be an easy process. Simply follow these best practices that I have outlined here, and I guarantee you will be on your way to baking beautiful, whole-grain loaves at home.

In this chapter, I will show you how to create and maintain your whole-grain sourdough starter at home. In addition to walking you through the process, I will introduce you to basic sourdough terminology, different flours you will encounter, how to troubleshoot your starter, and so much more.

Ancient Bread for Modern Times

Before we dive into how to make whole-grain sourdough bread, lets talk about why someone might want to. The appeal of whole-grain sourdough is that it is not only healthy, but also delicious and versatile. By simply combining flour and water, you create a live fermented culture from the wild yeast found on the grains the flour is made from. The more your starter is fedmeaning given fresh flour and waterthe more the wild yeast multiply. Because sourdough bread relies on wild yeast to help it rise, the process can take much longer than bread made with commercial yeast. But the complex flavor, texture, and health benefits that result are far superior to any other bread you wi ll ever eat.