SOURDOUGH - THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MAKING SOURDOUGH BREAD

Surdeig #1

by Casper André Lugg, Martin Ivar Hveem Fjeld, Martin Grytøyr (Photography )

Master the art of sourdough, from creating a starter to baking and serving delicious loaves in this full-color, step-by-step, illustrated guide that demystifies this traditional bread that has been enjoyed around the world for generations.

For a growing number of people, eating heathy is more important than ever. We’re rejecting processed, packaged foods filled with unpronounceable chemicals, and are embracing, organic whole foods, including whole grain and slow made breads like sourdough—the oldest method of bread baking.

In this encompassing guide, a pair of bakers show you how to master this traditional style of bread which has never been more relevant or popular and is a favorite of artisan bakers. Sourdough features fifteen no-fail recipes with clear, step-by-step instructions and photographs to help you make your own artisanal loaves at home.

The methods and recipes in Sourdough continue a tradition that is more than 5,000 years mix flour and water, then allow the dough to ferment and rise by itself. This extended fermentation process allows for maximum flavor—and easier digestion. With an emphasis on local, heirloom, and ancient grains, Sourdough introduces the natural ingredients used in artisan baking, teaches how to make a stable starter, and explains how to “set the leaven” to create perfect baked loaves. The book comes complete with cook’s notes and a trouble-shooting section to help you to avoid soggy bottoms, over baking, and other common problems.

Sourdough is an indispensable resource for bakers, and the perfect starter guide for the beginner bread baker.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Reference

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be user error, but I've been making sourdough everyday for over a month and they've turned out ranging from okay to quite good. I've tried ried twice with this book's 'basic bread' recipe and it's turned out heavy and inedible.

I don't understand why these recipes use a fraction of the starter that the other recipe books suggest using. Here suggests 20 - 40 grammes of starter whereas other recipes I have successfully used suggest 120 grammes.

I noticed that some of the amazing cross sections of bread showing amazing open holed texture, with holes big enough for a small mouse to crawl through looked completely different to other photos of the same recipe where this time they are sniffing the loaf cut open, if you look closely you can see that this doesn't have the big holes and it actually looks a lot like mine turned out.

I think these recipes could be good with tweaking and adding loads more starter. Many of the steps were well explained with plenty of step by step photos but some parts were unclear and left you wondering what to do. There were parts about feeding your starter before using that left me confused no matter how many times I went back to reread.

This also has some really lovely photography and I did learn some useful tips and techniques.

I think the best thing you can do if you want to make great sourdough is to keep trying lots of different methods, recipes and ideas until you find the one that works for you.

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Anyone can bake good sourdough bread. You just have to give it time and attention and use the best ingredients possible. You will always gets more out of using raw materials from dedicated organic farmers and millers who care for the soil and the processing of grain.”

A very beautiful book about bread/bröd. It was such an enjoyable read that it made me a bit annoyed when I got to the end of it. I wanted/craved for more recipes. Even though the list of recipes is pretty short, every recipe in the book felt intentional and meticulously composed. I felt like each of the recipes was crafted and written with lots of effort and love. I thought that the 'Friendship Bread' was really lovely. The baker behind the book is based in Oslo, Norway. His Instagram account is full of beautiful bread photos/stories as well : https://www.instagram.com/illebrod/ . It's all so very cozy - and I think anyone who's (even just a little bit) interested about making bread should read this book . I like that he advocates the use of Scandinavian/local “organic grain and stone-ground flour from small independent farms and mills”; and I also like that he incorporates them/the ancient grains in his recipes.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about sourdough! What I loved most about is the lack of clutter most other sourdough books have; actually this is the first one that does not have anything but the essentials.
It's really on point: ingredients, equipment, starting off, main recipe, methods, other variations, resources,.. and last but not least - wonderful photos throughout the book!
If you don't care for stories and long explanations this is definitely a book for you! Excellent for complete beginners, as the writing is not confusing and you can really dive in right away.
Highly recommend it to all sourdough enthusiasts.

[Judy Phin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the book that kick started my Sourdough Baking Experiences. There are plenty of resources and 'how to' videos online, but this particular book, the layout, the simple instructions and the beautiful photography really caught my attention and was the first bit of motivation that helped me in starting from scratch with creating my own Wild Sourdough Starter.

There was a little confusion with what I had to do with the remaining Sourdough Starter each time I was feeding it (there is a lot of excess) I think a short little explanation that there will indeed be a lot of excess amount (just to remove me having to go online and check if I was missing something)/ a page on suggestions on things you can make/ bake with sourdough starter to not waste it would have been nice to include.

I am now a forever baker of sourdough with my own home made Starter, also a lovely addition to my kitchen cook books =)

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bread is older than metal. Archeological evidence traces it back past 10,000 BC, and there is magic in making it yourself.
[- Vanessa Kimbell, Foreword: Amazing Flavor, p11]

I got a message from one of my friends about the fabulous Oatmeal bread he had made from "Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-grain Breadmaking" by Laurel Robertson. He said it was his "best ever bread." Laurel Robertson's book is indeed fabulous. However, coincidentally, I'd just finished reading Casper André Lugg's and Martin Ivar Hveem Fjeld's book and had already decided I neeeeeeeded to try their toasted oatmeal bread recipe soon.

Most people have some kind of relationship with oats, because few grains have such character. [...] [H]owever, oat flour has poor baking properties, so we only add for flavor. We toast them in flake form in the oven before we soak them. Toasting gives a wonderfully earthy and full-bodied character to the bread. [Toasted Oats, p.144]

Lugg and Fjeld toast rolled oats in a single layer on a baking tray for about 10 minutes at 350F and then soak the oats overnight in water before adding them to the dough made with whole-grain spelt and white wheat flours.

Laurel Robertson's recipe calls for commercial yeast; it also calls for untoasted oats. We did have a jar of commercial yeast in the fridge but its best-before date was in September. We have been using our wild yeast starter almost exclusively for at least a year....

I followed (mostly) their instructions, and made The Most Wonderful bread! The aroma from the toasted oats was fabulous. The bread was delicious with butter and cheese; it was equally delicious toasted; it was wonderful cubed to go with cheese fondue.

But it is not just for the Toasted Oats recipe that this book is worthwhile. It is printed on non-glossy paper (easy to read under electric lights - no glare!) and along with excellent instruction for making sourdough bread, is filled with stunningly beautiful photos.

Flour, water, and salt — that is all you need [...] letting the natural processes take place at their own pace. [...] Time, however, is critical. In fact, time can almost be viewed as the fourth ingredient. It is time that lets the flavors of the grain mature, which gives bread its unique quality. [- Flour, Water & Salt, p18]

There is no doubt that all of the instructions are sound. However, I'm not sure how really important it is to follow their notion of how often it is necessary to feed the starter.

If you keep the starter in the refrigerator, it is enough to feed it once or twice a week, but be sure to feed it twice before baking. [...] If you bake more than twice a week, it is best to keep the starter at room temperature. We recommend that you feed it twice a day, morning and night, every day. Otherwise you risk it becoming too acidic, thereby creating an imbalance between the yeast and bacteria, which will have a negative effect on both taste and expansion. [Feeding the Starter, p.30]

Twice a day!! Or twice before using it out of the fridge. We have not found this to be necessary. However, we have also found that bread wants to be bread. Certainly, it would be a good idea to experiment with the extra feeding if the bread was not turning out.

It is the following invaluable tip, echoing so many other sourdough bakers, that made me really like Ludd and Fjeld:

To be on the safe side, the first few times that you bake, we recommend you do a floating test. Put a teaspoon of the leaven in a glass of water — if it floats it means that the yeast has bugun producing CO2 and is ready to raise larger dough. [...] Without a proper leaven, the dough will not rise at the pace we need, nor will it develop good gluten strength
[p.34]

There are also good tips on how long to proof in the bowl and/or in the basket. There are scoring tips, including how to score bread that is slightly over- or under-proofed. They also give encouragement for when things don't go quite as planned.

Scoring dough gives bread soul and the feel of being baked by hand. [...] [S]coring can be tricky the first few times. [...] Be quick and firm when scoring. Pulling the blade slowly through the dough will produce an uneven and deep incision. [...] If the dough is slightly underfermented, your incision can go a little deeper. If it is a little overfermented, the incision should be shallow.
[...]
Once you've scored the dough, slide it from the bread peel into the [preheated] pot. This also requires some practice — don't worry if the dough goes in slightly skewed the first few times [...] [T]he pot will shape the dough in such a way that you almost always end up with presentable bread. [p.72]

Another valuable aspect of the book is how to incorporate low- or no-gluten grains so that the final bread is still lofty.

Yes, indeed. This is a wonderful book, and it is no surprise that it has gone into a second printing.

bookmarked:
p.108 Pain de Campagne
p.112 Sift and Scald
p.140 Naked Barley
p.144 Toasted Oats

+ + + + +
The other day, my friend reported that he had used toasted oats in Laurel Robertson's Oatmeal bread recipe: "OMG... won't skip that step again...".

[Nil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wo ist meine Stulle?

Ich bin ja der Meinung, dass ein richtig gutes Brot nicht mehr braucht als Butter oder eine vegane Alternative. Frisch gebackenes Brot ohne Zusätze ist einfach eine Offenbarung und die Krönung ist – natürlich: ein Sauerteigbrot!
Und hier in diesem Buch mit dem einfachen, aber treffenden Titel ‚Sauerteig – Gutes Brot backen‘ geht es genau darum :Sauerteig. Nicht viel Schnickschnack, nicht erschlagend mit zu viel links und rechts.
Und wenn man so will, das Auge isst ja immer mit, ich fand dieses Buch gehalten im minimalistischen clean chic zum Anbeißen. Keine Sorge, mein Brot war dann doch verführerischer. Wirklich tolle atmosphärischen Bilder und das bei einem Brotbackbuch!
Hier lernt man das Grundprinzip von der Pike auf, wie setzt man einen Sauerteig an, was brauch ich, welche Zutaten in welcher Qualität sollte ich nutzen (hierzu fand ich die Mehlproduzentenliste hinten um Buch hilfreich). Einfach, mit überzeugender Qualität und Zeit, dass braucht man zum guten Sauerteigbrot backen. Auch die Tipps beim Nicht-Gelingen - die Pannenhilfe – habe ich zu Rate ziehen können und siehe da, wieder was gelernt!
Natürlich sind noch mehrere Rezepte drin und was ich ganz charmant fand, auch Rezepte mit nicht alltäglichen Getreidesorten, wie Emmer, Einkorn oder Kamut. Unser Favorit ist das Brot mit dem gerösteten Hafer….einfach lecker!
Die beiden Autoren, Casper André Lugg und Martin Ivar Hveem Fjeld, sind zwei engagierte Bio-Bäcker aus Norwegen, die sich dem traditionellen Brothandwerk verschrieben haben.
So, nun muss ich aber mal nach unserem Anstellgut schauen, bei uns heißt er Berthold und ist mittlerweile voll ins Familienleben integriert!

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, clear explanation for baking truly artisan sourdough. The instructions and gorgeous step-by-step photos detail the process so thoroughly that beginners should be able to bake an excellent loaf. Most of the loaves are a shaped, rustic-style loaf, but they include a recipe for making the sourdough in a loaf pan, which I plan to try.

One downside: the specified ingredients (for the non-basic loaf) are quite specialized and may not be widely available, like spelt flour, emmer flour, khorasan wheat flour (Kamut), and einkorn flour. You might need to hit up a natural foods store or shop online for these.

[Jennifer Lednicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

(library book). Excellent pictures that make me want to learn this art of baking bread. I used this book and two other recipes for my first loaf of sourdough ever, and it came out great! Norwegian perspective. Recipes with a lot of specialty grains that aren't readily available without making a huge effort. Liked that they used gram and cup measurements. The text is spread out so not as concise as other books, but laid out for presentation. Most useful to me: the basic bread recipe, how to bake in dutch oven, and loaf recipe.

[Aleksa May · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sourdough bread baking book with clear straightforward explanation illustrated by beautiful photography and a clean layout.
There are no errors in measurement (500g of flour per loaf) which is wonderful for the beginner baker. .

This is real sourdough, no bakers or active dry yeast.
The photo sequence on folding and shaping is a confidence booster you can check on your bread at every stage of its rise. Lovely book.

[Kirstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful and interesting read. However, the process that the authors use has a lot more steps that are absolutely necessary to make good sourdough. It does not have to be that complicated.

That said, I am always looking for ways to include more whole grains in my bread, and this books includes recipes for einkorn, emmer, khorasan, spelt and barley.

[Carminia Albornoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned almost nothing, or better said, everything you can find there I already know it about sourdough. But this book has amazing photographs, the desing itself... it is almost a gem! And the recipes are very good too!

[John Virag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good starter

Pics are great ...and instructions are easily read. Looking forward to trying this out...additionally they make decent contrasts between different flours and techniques and explain the various outcomes..

[maureen cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sourdough, a traditional style of bread making that's both healthy and delicious which requires patience and mindfulness during baking. Beautifully designed with stunning & inspiring photography of bread making. Makes me wanna go and make my first starter now!

[Carolyn Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

The images were incredible. The steps though weren’t always entirely clear.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

too complicated

[Maryse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excels in simplicity. An easy to follow path to real, honest, earthy baking.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this cookbook! It is a beautiful book with photos to accompany the directions. Highly recommend.

[Delilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me so much confidence in baking sourdough. The rye sourdough recipe is my weekly go to bread - soft and delicious!