my reflections

“If I could make this happen, everyone can.”

This is how I like to encourage everyone at the beginning of their journey with sourdough baking

I am not a trained cook or baker, and I started baking sourdough some three years ago inspired by a friend. I failed a few times, then started to get decent loaves, and continued to improve.

Baking bakery-quality sourdough at home takes some practice and patience, but it is totally achievable

“Sometimes it might feel overwhelming, and that’s normal with sourdough baking“

Take it step by step, give yourself time to learn. Like with anything else, learning something new takes time, especially if you want to be great at it. You don’t know what you don’t know and that’s ok. That’s why the Internet exists and books have been written

“Getting to understand the dough takes time when you learn on your own“

In my first months, I had no idea how to ‘read’ the dough and when to move to the next step in the process. I had no reference point, nothing to compare it to. This is one thing you can only learn through repetition, alongside written & video content you find. But practice is key

What helped me most, was to follow a clear recipe & schedule and stick to that for a while. At that point I was definitely not ready to make any adjustments as I was not sure how that would unfold

“Lower the bar for your first loaves, that’s your card to satisfaction“

Don’t expect your first loaf to come out perfect. Define what matters to you the most in the first instance, something like ‘edible loaf, decent looking’ or ‘great flavour’ and I can assure you with this you increase the chances to be over the moon when you take your first loaf out of the oven!  Best not to compare your first loaves with what you see on Instagram 🙂