Sourdough Starter School
Today is the first day of Sourdough Starter School. Each Sourdough Starter School post will walk you through, step-by-step one way of making sourdough starter. There are, believe it or not, several different approaches to making what is traditionally a two-ingredient food, and I love exploring the potential differences (but mostly similarities) that result from using different methods to get started.
Let’s Get This Starter Started
First up is the simple method employed by famed San Francisco Bakery, Tartine. Tartine Bread is a wonderful book to start a sourdough quest with because of the attitude of its author (and Tartine baker), Chad Robertson. The spirit here may remind you more of other fermentation books you’ve read than other baking books you’ve read. Robertson is very relaxed about the whole thing. Precise ingredient measurements and temperatures are provided, but where there’s flexibility, Robertson makes sure you know it. For a person who has always been turned off by the uber-precision needed for great baking, I love the mix of the two, especially when the results are so chewy/crispy/delightful.
The Tartine method is a slightly simpler process than some other sourdough or levain methods that you’ll find and it produces gorgeous breads that you’ll be incredibly proud to say you made yourself.