Making your own sourdough bread is one of the most satisfying activity you can do. In fact, I must warn you that it can get addictive. So why should you make your own sourdough bread? Sourdough bread is a much healthier alternative to regular white bread or even whole-wheat. It’s more digestible and nutritious. It will help keep your gut bacteria happier. It is also less likely to spike your blood sugar. But forget the health reasons, it is simply a more delicious bread. Once you taste the difference, there is simply no going back.

You will hardly find a good commercial sourdough bread at your commercial bakery; most are leavened in quick time still using yeast and they use fake citric acid to give you that sour taste. They usually contain many scary ingredients that should not be there. Real sourdough bread is made using only flour, water and salt, 3 ingredients, nothing else! Next time you buy commercial bread, count the ingredients, you will be shocked!

You can however buy great sourdough bread from an artisan baker, but they are not cheap and harder to come by.

Try and buy the best flour you can afford. Ideally organic, stone milled flour. These contain all the healthy nutrients. If you can find a local farm, that’s always the best solution, they have a better fresher quality and you can buy in bulk. Making your own bread will give your house a new soul. The baking smell alone makes this exercise worth the while. And once you reveal your bread from the oven, it is an amazing feeling you never get tired of. The hard part is resisting cutting it immediately. Bread needs to rest out of the oven at least 60 minutes, so the centre steam keeps it cooking.

So, first start making the Sourdough Bread Starter. For bread making we always use the metric system, so it’s all in grams. Don’t worry, it’s easy as they are nice round numbers. It’s made using half water and half flour, mixed and left at room temperature. How easy is that! After 7 days (subject to climate) you are ready to start baking. And your starter can last generations. Your grandkids will love you as it will improve with age. Simply feed it each day, or once a week if kept in the fridge. That depends on your schedule and how often you want to bake. I personally bake every second day.

So start your bread baking journey now, make sure you use unbleached bread flour and ideally an organic rye or even whole-wheat flour. Never use tap water, always use bottled or filtered water.

What are you going to name your Sourdough Bread Starter? It is alive, so it needs a name. Let me know and keep me posted on your exciting bread making journey.