I’ve read that baking bread is like writing. There are ingredients carefully pieced together like letters into words, a bit of editing, and a finished product seldom satisfactory to the maker. I’ve written a lot longer than I’ve been baking bread, but I can testify to their likeness.
One of my coworkers here at WPR gave me a sourdough starter earlier this winter. A starter is a live fermented culture of fresh flour and water, typically stored in a glass jar. In order to live, it needs routine “feeding.” A well-fed, active starter is used to make bread in place of commercial yeast.
To learn how to make your own starter, click here.
My starter (named “Goot”) and I have been wrestling back and forth for about a month. Sometimes I’m pleased with the loaf. Other times, I’ve had to throw out tough, unworkable dough. I’m trying to embrace this learning process.
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Last weekend, I traveled to Beloit to bake bread at my parent’s house. I’ve heard dough prefers heat and humidity. My dad and I put a space heater and multiple bowls of water in the smallest room of the house. Then we put the dough in the room to rise.
Clara Neupert is a producer for “The Larry Meiller Show.” She started the position in October of 2022. Show ideas and bread tips can be sent to clara.neupert@wpr.org.