Hannah Claudia : The Sourdough Chronicles I

When they commuted to New York City everyday for work, my parents would always come home with treats - chicken and rice from The Halal Guys, cheese danishes and apple turnovers from Zaro's Bakery, Irish soda bread on St. Patrick's Day, cookies from office meetings (aren't my parents the coolest!?). It was no surprise when Dad brought back a plethora of food and souvenirs from a trip to San Francisco, but we didn't expect a giant sourdough turtle from Boudin.

I was about eight years old then. Seven years later, I was in San Francisco for the first time and beginning to learn more about baking - bread, specifically. Sourdough was the magical buzzword that caught my attention wherever we went. Never did I think it was feasible to make sourdough at home, but last year, I caught wind of the fermentation trend and realized that making sourdough wasn't impossible. The biggest barrier wasn't growing a starter...It was living in a dorm!

Discouraged again, I decided to tackle sourdough after I'd graduate, when I'd have my own kitchen and access to a continuous supply of flour. Ohh, but once again, my excitement re-surged upon discovery of new blogs and videos devoted solely to sourdough. I needed to act.

This past winter break was the impetus of my sourdough project. The starter took about 10 days to mature, and three (giant) loaves were baked between holiday cookie baking and traveling. I won't lie, there were mornings when my starter was neglected and unfed...I promise that wouldn't happen with a pet, though, animals make noise and aren't tucked in the dark corner of the pantry.

With that being said, even my forgetfulness couldn't get in the way of the starter's growth. It's awfully resilient, and mine is actually sitting quietly in the back of the refrigerator at home right now. (Apparently you can get away with not feeding it for some time, about 3 months, so long as the temperature is brought down to delay growth. I'll see if that's true over spring break).

Sourdough is the epitome of where art and science intertwine; technique is required, but a starter is living. You need to respond to it by feel, sight, and smell, too. A tiny spot of white mold started growing on the edges of my mason jar somewhere in the middle of break, a sign that a yeast was outgrowing the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or a sign of contamination. It's not a big deal to scoop that bit away and transfer the remaining starter to a new, sterile mason jar. No need to call the food safety inspectors on me; I'm pretty nit-picky about sanitation, too, but the mold isn't anything to worry about if it's contained to an isolated area and not black in color.

Smell tells you a lot, too. Different strains of bacteria and yeast grow in different environments, so what Boudin or Tartine are doing in SF might not work perfectly for someone on the East Coast. Microorganism species grow differently due to a variety of environmental factors. Using your senses, particularly smell to detect fermentation, is not "unscientific" or "imprecise", but practical. There were points when my starter smelled a little too strongly of acetone (like nail polish remover - gross). After consulting online forums, I discovered that my starter was growing too quickly and needed to be fed more often. The starch that I was feeding it was fermented too quickly; for my starter, "nail polish remover" smell and excess liquid (a "hooch"...I don't come up with these names) indicates over-fermentation. They don't tell you this stuff in microbio, guys.

There's certainly a learning curve to the whole process, but hey, it's exponential. The first loaf was good, but, with a too-chewy-too-tough crust and unevenly dispersed holes, slightly disappointing. The second was definitely better, with a more pronounced sourdough flavor. The third loaf lost a lot of the sourness, but the crust was thinner (not perfect, but we'll get there) and the holes were beautifully distributed. I can't pinpoint if it's increased time, practice, or a Dutch oven that made the third so much better; the first two loaves were baked in our turkey roasting pan (hah) because we didn't have a Dutch oven. The roasting pan provided the closed, steamy environment that helps leaven the dough and create a crispy crust, but I don't think it's as well sealed of an environment as a heavy Dutch oven. Cast irons with a lid are also popular (and less expensive) options.

I'm no experienced baker, so I can't share many tips (or even the process) quite yet. I will say, however, that though sourdough's a labor of love, it's not as inconvenient as you'd think - if you're looking for a schedule to follow, from starter through to baking/maintenance feeding, let me know and I can share mine with you!

I encourage you to get into the kitchen and try your hand in baking sourdough. It's been so much fun. If you like puzzles or brain teasers, sourdough's a great challenge to tackle. I've learned more about microbiology than the Steves (our two professors) taught us in an entire semester. Plus, you might realize that maybe it's not so bad paying $8 for a bakery loaf of sourdough, after all.

Lastly, I should note that if you ever hear me talking about "Gustavo", I'm most likely talking about my starter, affectionately named after my favorite Spanish professor!

Day 1: fermentation happens a lot more quickly than you may expect, but that doesn't mean there's no life if you don't see anything yet!

Day 2 - look at all the bubbles!

Ten days later, the starter passed the "float" test and the dough was ready to be made. The above photos were taken late at night, before the overnight rise.