Thursday Thirteen : Sourdough Bread
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I love baking bread. I have since I was a little girl. I like the feeling of holding an entire universe in my hands. I thought I’d share my love of bread making with you!
Thursday Thirteen #30
Sourdough bread that is!
Facts
1. All bread was made with “wild yeast” prior to 1950s. In the 1950’s brewers yeast became commercially available as bread yeast. Of course, brewer’s yeast was never intended to rise bread.
2. People coveted their yeast. They bought their yeast when they emigrated to the United States. Sourdough arrived in the West via wagon train.
3. Every line of sourdough is different, and depending on how it’s treated, changes as it lives in your home.
What is sourdough?
4. Wild yeast is naturally occurring yeast. When people say, “wild yeast” they mean “not brewer’s yeast”.
5. Sourdough starter is a mixture of yeast and bacteria cultures (similar to those in yogurt).
How does it work?
6. I received a starter for free in the mail. (It looks like powdered milk!) I reconsituted the starter and let it grow.
7. I keep the starter in a pyrex dish in the refrigerator. When I am going to use it, I take out a 1/4 cup, add water and flour, and leave it over night. If I don’t bake one week, I just feed the starter.
8. Because I like to make a lot of bread at once, I usually create starter over the course of a number of days.
9. Almost any bread recipe can be converted to sourdough. There’s a million great recipes at Sourdough Home.
Why make bread?
10. There is a large body of research that suggests that food changes properties depending on how it’s created and who creates it. For example, blessed wine actually tastes better. I create the bread with love - I think you can taste it.
11. Sourdough is easier on the human body than brewer’s yeast.
12. I can control the ingredients in my bread - I use organic flour from an employee owned mill. I use sea salt and olive oil. I also filter the water. These high quality ingredients create a high quality product.
13. Now it’s your turn. What do you love to bake? Leave your favorites in the comments and I’ll add them to this post.
- Michelle at My Crazy Life with a Toddler bakes bread when she makes homemade soup - usually in the fall and winter.
- Miss Sarah at Puss Reboots bakes “soda breads, biscuits and pies mostly.”
- Sandy Carlson “love(s) to bake cookies–any kind at all.”
- FuriousBall baked himself in college.
- Shaunesay bakes break in her bread machine.
- Briggie says, “When I got married (many many many years ago) my Mom gave me a Betty Crocker cookbook and there is a recipe for Casserole Bread. I love making it because it’s so easy, lots of variations and everyone loves it.”
- Colleen “used to bake my son a blueberry pie for his birthday each year.”
- Jameil “can bake anything following a recipe. If peach cobbler is considered baking but i make mine with crust from scratch and people always rave over it. it’s sooo easy, though.”
- Popping Bubbles says, “Cookies and cupcakes are my usuals, but lately I have been baking these fantastic loaves of Artisan bread.”
- Grace in Dubai “love(s) to bake chiffon cake because it’s easy and my husband loves it.”
- Winter “make(s) Irish soda bread and baking powder biscuits. Sometimes cookies and brownies.”
- Odat makes “no bake” cheesecake.
- Adelle Lauden “make(s) my own bread as well, but I mix and rise in the bread maker. Much easier on the hands. I bake it in the oven thought”
- Alice Audrey has “a bread machine and just toss(es) things in willy-nilly.”
- Sassy Mama Bear says, “Actually my husband is the big baker in the family and I am going to share this with him as he has wanted to start baking sourdough. He makes the best cinnamon rolls ever.
I bake mainly cookies and cakes.” - Darla “love(s) baking bread–kneading is a great stress reliever–and experimenting with changing the recipes.”
- Jennifer McKenzie “love(s) making my own bread. I have dinner rolls I’ve started making with whole wheat flour and sea salt. They’re awesome!!!!”
- Hazelnut says, “Being Scottish, I really do bake oat scones, lots of butter, eat warm with a drizzle of honey, great with a pot of tea.”
- Los Angelista says, “I know how to bake a fabulous apple crisp and I also can bake a delicious coffee cake.”
- When CEO baked, “my favorite was baking an old fashioned sour cream chocolate cake with old fashioned sour cream chocolate icing, just like the turn of the 20th Century.”
- Mary Alice says, “I bake bread as well, but not as often as my mother did. I like to make my own dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cakes and pies.”
- Heart in SF says, “I bake pies, quick breads and cookies all the time but would love to begin making my own bread again. I’ve made French baguette and also honey whole wheat bread, but not for a long time.”
- Melanie “love(s) to bake cookies.”
- Michelle says, “I am on a mission to become the mom who makes the best chocolate cookies in the neighborhood. Practicing is fun.”
Filed under: About Claudia, Distractions, Meme, Thursday Thirteen
This was really informative. Lots of things I didn’t know. Thanks.
This is GREAT!!! THanks
Sour dough bread is my favorite! Yummy!
Great TT. I love bread also. I always seem to bake more in the fall and winter months. Bread goes great with home made soup. Yummy. Though I cheat and use the bread machine. LOL!! Happy TT.
Yummy. I do soda breads, biscuits and pies mostly. Happy TT.
I love to bake cookies–any kind at all. Thanks for sharing this.
back in college, i baked myself a lot
Do you know how much I have been CRAVING sourdough bread lately and how HARD it is to find it around here? OMG, it makes the BEST toast ever!
Interesting reading here. I love all kinds of bread … especially sour dough … but I’m just not the baking kind any more. I love eating fresh warm bread & melted butter with just about anything … even though I know it’s not good for me to do so.
Hugs and blessings,
I have to confess, I’m not a fan of sourdough bread. I’m weird like that, I know!
This is neat stuff, though. Remind me to use it in a book!
No, no. The band’s not taking the whole summer off. They’re just not doing five shows a week.
*sigh*
I SO can’t wait to bring you the book!
Boy, does that Honey Whole Wheaf Loaf look good.
I love bread! I admit I make bread in my bread machine, have never made it the real way, but I love it all the same!
Happy TT!
When I got married (many many many years ago)my Mom gave me a Betty Crocker cookbook and there is a recipe for Casserole Bread and I love making it because it’s so easy, lots of variations and everyone loves it. Great TT, and thanks for stopping by mine.
Anthony North - Well now I’ve really done something! You know so many things - wow.
Susie J - Ah shucks.
Chelle Y - Yes indeed! Yummy!
Michelle - I used to use a bread machine but I didn’t think it saved me that much time - and it sucks the electricity. What kind of soup do you make?
Sarah at Puss Reboots - Gosh what a list! What kind of pie do you make? Do you make your own crust?
SandyCarlson - Cookies are wonderful little pockets of love.
FuriousBall - I laughed out loud at this comment. You’re such a crack up.
Janet - This is really wonderful. We can slice it very thin? then mmmmmm!
Storyteller - There are people who combat the idea that it’s not good for you. Interesting controversy with many sides - warm bread is wonderful.
Susan Helen Gottfried - Yes, I’m excited to get the book! Maybe you’ve never had really good sourdough - there’s always that.
Brenda ND - It’s wonderful. Easy too! Well, especially since we keep bees.
Shaunesay - I don’t think a bread machine gives you much. Maybe you should try it! Yummy bread!
Home made bread is truely wonderful!! Great list. Happy TT and thanks for stopping by:)
Baking?? I haven’t baked anything in ages!!
I don’t bake much. Used to bake my son a blueberry pie for his birthday each year. I can’t eat much bread. It makes me have to go to bed.
The ink is still wet on my 13. I posted your call to authors.
There’s nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread . . . well, okay, maybe brownies and chocolate chip cookies (smile)!
Oooh fresh bread! Tops on my wish list is a grain mill and bread mixer. Even my breadmaker went kaput.
There’s nothing in the world like bread made from scratch.
wow! what an involved process! i can bake anything following a recipe. I can’t get w/anything with phyllo dough tho. too much work. i’ll eat it but i don’t want to bake with it. i don’t know if peach cobbler is considered baking but i make mine with crust from scratch and people always rave over it. it’s sooo easy, though.
Many years ago I was owned by sour dough mix. NEVER AGAIN! Besides I don’t think a person can make good bread if they don’t have a gas oven.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
I love to bake! Cookies and cupcakes are my usuals, but lately I have been baking these fantastic loaves of Artisan bread. Who can resist fresh baked bread?
Hi Claudia! It’s been a while…
I love bread… I don’t bake tho’…
I haven’t tried sour dough bread. Can I visit and have some?
I love to bake chiffon cake because it’s easy and my husband loves it.
I make Irish soda bread and baking powder biscuits. Sometimes cookies and brownies. I know how to make bread but I haven’t done it in a long time. I love the smell of bread baking tho!
*sniff* the old lady doesn’t let me near the kitchen anymore. I keep telling her it was a decade ago and only a small explosion.
I, at one time, was a master at sweet stuff. I didn’t pay for any of the kids college but I always sent them care packages. One time I made a pecan pie from scratch…only thing was I didn’t read the nut bag and used walnuts…I sent the pie to my daughter who shared it with my ex-old lady. ha ha ha ha ha
She is a country girl and graciously excused the walnuts. She was after all receiving the child support every week.
Peace
I love sourdough bread - one of my favourites. Thanks for coming by my blog. The vitamin e thing sounds like something worth trying. I don’t smoke, but I heard that coffee and sugaree sweet stuff can give you cellulite problems too, so perhaps I should change my diet a little…
Great, now I’m hungry… And I don’t cook lol
My husband is the bread baker in our house. At any given moment we have at least one fresh loaf and various stages of sourdoughs in various containers around the kitchen.
I don’t bake! But I do make a mean “no bake” cheesecake…does that count?
Peace
Thanks for visiting my deity TT and sharing your thoughts. I welcome new insights!
No. 3 (Aphrodite) is in fact the same statue as the Venus of Milo; mine was made in Greece, so they put Aphrodite on it.
No. 4 is also made in Greece, but I agree on her English looks. I hope someone can clear up this mystery.
No. 5 is Karyatis, a name for Artemis derived from the city in Lakonia, Karyae (Caryae), which had a famous temple dedicated to Artemis; the name means Maiden of Caryae and was the theme for the female-shaped columns called the Karyatids (Caryatids) found in temples throughout Greece. You can see the original here: http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/acropolis-museum/pages/110_1076_jpg.htm
Btw, I love homemade bread!!
I really like sourdough bread but have never attempted to make my own.
I have made Amish friendship bread and that requires feeding a mixture of stuff that grows. However, I am not a good baker but I do love eating other people’s baked goods.
Great list!
I make my own bread as well, but I mix and rise in the bread maker. Much easier on the hands. I bake it in the oven thought. I don’t like it baked in the machine. Happy T13!
I love bread. All bread. I’m sure it does not love me back. I’m sure it shakes when it sees me coming. Knowing full well I will devour it and smile while I pat mah bellay!
I love sourdough bread! I have never made it. You breads look wonderful. I’m going to send for the starter and give it a try. Happy TT
My Mom always made her own bread and she’d always try something new.
She’d call me up everytime and use me a guinea pig. Course, I left her house with an armful of bread so I never complained.
Miss it as a matter of fact.
Great topic, Claudia!
Lori - It’s fun to make - good exercise and the like! :)Claudia - School is so much work - there’s still time!
Colleen - Blueberry pie sounds wonderful. I hope when we get blueberries, I’ll make a pie!
Lori - oooh brownies…. sorry what were you saying?
Cheryl - I’ll cross my fingers for you!
Jameil - Peach cobbler? How wonderful! Where can I get some? SJ Reidhead - I’ve cooked in both. I like the speed of gas and the consistency of electric. Here in the west, gas is so much cheaper that everyone has gas.
Coco - Nice to see you!
Grace - Yum - chiffon cake sounds wonderful. You are welcome to come for a visit - scones and bees that’s what we do here.
Winter - Yummy! Gosh I haven’t made soda bread in a long time. I’ll have to try some.TWM - I bet your kids loved your care packages. I would have cherished such a gift.
Clarence - Mine too!
Deanna Dahlsad - If you don’t cook, what do you eat? that’s a great TT!Robin - Hurray for your husband! I bet it’s good!
Odat - ooohh! No bake Cheesecake? That counts! That counts!
Tink - It’s fun to have the conversation. I love learning about dieties and statues. I spent so much time with them as a child. #3 is funny too - I just recognized the statue. Surprised me!Toni - I wonder if Amish bread is the same. I’ll have to check it out. It does sound the same, eh? I could teach you the real trick of baking. Shoot me an email if you are interested.
Adelle Lauden - I guess that’s true. Using the bread machine is easier on the hands. I just don’t like the way it kneads - six of one…
Christy - ahahahahaha - how funny!
Tammy - It’s really very easy. That website, Sourdough Home is wonderful help too.
Slick -If my mom was cooking? An armload of bread would be a real curse! (She’s an awful cook - bleck!) I’m glad you were able to enjoy what she made - and how fun is that!
I have a bread machine and just toss things in willy-nilly. Sometimes it even tastes good.
I love BREAD!! Mmm more than dessert. Yummy. And I lurve making it as well. YUM!
Happy TT thanks for dropping by mine.
Actually my husband is the big baker in the family and I am going to share this with him as he has wanted to start baking sourdough. He makes the best cinnamon rolls ever.
I bake mainly cookies and cakes.
My son is the pie guy here.
Thanks for dropping by The Cafe today.
I’ve been looking to get a sourdough started for a few years now! Thanks so much for that link! Once I get some appropriately priced stamps, I’ll be sending in for mine!!!
Bread is such a wonderful comfort food i esp like …..it ALL
Fantastic again, Claudia! Years ago (at least 20) I used to have starter in my fridge and bake bread all the time. I had completely forgotten about it. Now I am going to order some.
And I also just remembered it worked great for sourdough pancakes too. Oh how my kids loved those.
Off to order some starter now! Thanks again! I am sure I will only gain 15 pounds or so.
Mmmmm…bread is my favorite. I like to mix up a loaf in the bread machine and then take it out to make sweet rolls or sticky buns. Thankfully for my bread addiction there is a very nice bakery next to the place my kids take karate. They grind their own flour daily. It is fabulous!
Mmmm…bread. I love baking bread. The only problem is that I don’t have a mixer, and my arms aren’t up to mixing by hand in my bread bowl too often. Perhaps it’s time to try my bread maker again?
Also, have you noticed that there is High Fructose Corn syrup in many store-bought breads these days?
I love baking bread–kneading is a great stress reliever–and experimenting with changing the recipes. I’ve never tried sourdough, though. I’m not even sure how one would go about getting starter over here, but it would be fun to try.
Alice Audrey - What a great idea! I’m waaayyy too chicken to just go for it - maybe someday.
Amy - It is very good indeed.
Sassy Mama Bear - Yum. Sounds like a house I should hint for an invitation to dinner!
Sarah - Let us know how it turns out!Marcia - Yummy too!
Vixen - D talks about sourdough pancakes but I haven’t made them - he’d rather have bread or pizza dough. I found that the bread we make is very satisfying - we eat less.
HRH - Ooooh! A favorite bakery - how wonderful and convenient. I do love sweet rolls and stick buns. Any recipes to share?
CelticLibrarian - Yes, unbelievable where you find HFC! I do hope you get a bread maker!
Darla - I actually started baking again as a stress-reliever/grounding exercise. I think I have some extra. I’ll look - shall I send it to you?
I love making my own bread. I have dinner rolls I’ve started making with whole wheat flour and sea salt. They’re awesome!!!!
This was a great post and I’ll click on your link for the marketing questions.
I eat bread. Lots of it. But I don’t like to bake.
Oh Claudia, I wait for other people to feed me…I don’t cook really.
I remember my mom making sourdough rolls and feeding the starter when I was a kid. My gram lived to cook and my mom is a culinary queen. Me - I love to eat what she lovingly bakes for me. I didn’t get those cooking genes - I know it sounds weird if you love to cook, but I find the whole thing such a tedious ordeal. I relish eating the divine creations of those who do love to cook, however.
Being Scottish, I really do bake oat scones, lots of butter, eat warm with a drizzle of honey, great with a pot of tea.
I did the sour dough thing, got a bag of starter dough from a friend at church, made it with my students at school. But gave away all the starter dough that we made, couldn’t take the pressure!
I absolutely believe food tastes better when it’s made with love and care. Seeing all those pictures made me want a nice bowl of soup to dip the bread in.
I know how to bake a fabulous apple crisp and I also can bake a delicious coffee cake. I’m going to make it for my mom when I see her this summer!
I’ve never heard of sourdough before…but thanks to you I learned something today.
My wife threw me out of the kitchen when I became diabetic, but my favorite was baking an old fashioned sour cream chocolate cake with old fashioned sour cream chocolate icing, just like the turn of the 20th Century. Extremely rich and heavy. Absolutely delicious.
I love sourdough. My mom baked bread every single day when we were growing up and my father-in-law makes sourdough pancakes every other day. I bake bread as well, but not as often as my mother did. I like to make my own dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cakes and pies. When I am overwhelmed by things…like during finals week….I just want to bake. During finals a couple weeks ago I was obsessed with baking a rhubarb pie. What’s that all about?
I’ve made French baguette and also honey whole wheat bread, but not for a long time. I love sourdough - it elevates any meal to godly manna, and makes the house smell wonderful.
I bake pies, quick breads and cookies all the time but would love to begin making my own bread again. The only halfway decent commercially available bread is at Whole Foods, and it is not made with love, but for profit. You’re right. Love is the most important ingredient in all foods.
I love to bake cookies. I’ve never even tried to bake bread. Quick breads- yes, but not making bread for real.
Baking bread looks a bit beyo9nd me but I may start blessing my wine.
I never made bread, you think I could easily do this one?
I am on a mission to become the mom who makes the best chocolate cookies in the neighborhood. Practicing is fun.
Awesome post! Have you ever read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon? are you familiar with the Weston A Price Foundation? - great stuff!!!
[...] this sourdough starter and this sourdough website. Since I’ve already blathered on about it here, I’ll just say - YAY! I’m making rye bread [...]