My First Sourdough Loaf: A Beginner's Diary
The messy, confusing, and ultimately magical journey.
I've scrolled past countless photos of perfect sourdough loaves on social media, each with a caption that made it sound so simple. "Just flour, water, and salt!" they said. So, I decided to dive in. Here’s my honest, unfiltered diary of what really happened.
Day 1: The Starter is Born (I think?)
Mixed whole wheat flour and water in a jar. It looks... like wet flour. I put a rubber band on it and named it "Clint Yeastwood." I feel a strange sense of responsibility for this paste.
Day 7: It Lives!
After a week of feeding and discarding, and a brief panic on Day 4 when it smelled like old socks, Clint is finally bubbly and predictable. It doubles in size after every feeding. It's go time. I feel both excited and terrified.
Day 8, 9:00 AM: The Mix
I mixed the dough. It is so, so sticky. It's on my hands, my counter, my shirt. How do people do this gracefully? I performed my first "stretch and fold" which felt more like a "stretch and panic."
Day 8, 2:00 PM: Bulk Fermentation... Maybe?
The recipe said "let it rise until it's puffy and jiggly." What does jiggly mean? Is it jiggly enough? I poked it about 50 times. I'm pretty sure I'm just guessing. This is where an app like CrumbScience would have been a lifesaver, telling me exactly when it was ready based on temperature.
Day 8, 4:00 PM: The Shaping Disaster
I tried to shape the dough. It immediately deflated and spread into a puddle. I frantically scraped it together, folded it into a vague ball shape, and threw it into a bowl. I am not optimistic.
Day 9, 10:00 AM: The Bake
After a night in the fridge (for the dough, not me), I preheated my Dutch oven until it was screaming hot. I flipped the dough in, scored it with a shaky hand, and hoped for the best. The first 20 minutes with the lid on were the longest of my life.
Day 9, 10:45 AM: The Reveal
I lifted the lid. And... it worked. It wasn't perfect, but it was a real, proper loaf of bread! It had oven spring! It had a crust! It smelled incredible. I have never felt so accomplished.
The Takeaway
My first loaf was far from perfect, but it was mine. The biggest lesson was that consistency comes from controlling variables. While I guessed my way through it, I now understand why tools that track time and temperature are so valuable. It’s not about removing the craft, but about empowering it with data.
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