Sourdough Tutors

I have been playing with sourdough for a couple years now. But it has always been a "side thing". We have such a wonderful selection of tried and true (commercial) yeast recipes we like that it makes the "mastering process" a slow one. However, I would LOVE to get to the point where I get so proficient with sour dough, that I won't even miss using yeast (or even baking powder!). This seems like a lofty goal because we have been braking our own things from scratch for so many years I have a very large list f tried and true recipes using those items.  This will take a SOURDOUGH IMMERSION and many many replacement options for us!  I expect it will take some time.  If I do not achieve this goal, I will at least have enriched our lives significantly with sourdough.  I'm OK with that.  I have been looking for resources to help me do that. I thought I would share with you the things that I have found. I also have books on my list, but for the sake of simplicity here, I will list online resources. I hope to share books at another time and lots more recipe in the future.

Beginners:

1. For a quick and easy introduction to sourdough, I would like to send you to my friend, Moira's blog; Not By Bread Alone. She has a wonderful tab explaining the benefits of Soaking Bread and Sourdough Bread. The sour dough section is below the soaking bread section - so just scroll down to it. Moira, likes to use videos by others and I think it gives a wonderful overview of the process and it is the next best thing to being in a friend's kitchen who can show you first hand! :-) She includes gluten free options for sourdough too. Be sure to check out her other recipes too, it is a wonderful site to visit when looking for some inspiration in the kitchen!  (By the way, if you are not using sour dough, seriously consider soaking... it creates a superior product that easily digested and is another one of our favorite breads.)

2. Sourdough Home Is a GEM of a resource that intend to use myself! It it through, easy to reference, has good reading. The other is clearly experience in using sour dough, but he presents his information in a way that less intimidating than other sites. I think he does a GREAT job at taking the intimidation our of traditional baking! I for one, appreciate that considerably! With some many things going on in my life..sourdough is only one of them..so I appreciate a straight forward resource that helps me get in and out of the kitchen when I need too. He offers ebook, local classes and lots of recipes and encouragement for free online.

 3. Wardeh Harmen has put together an amazing site called gnowfglins that is very user friendly and thorough. You can sign up for courses, which have video instructions and forum access. They are wonderful! Wardeh offers more than just sourdough - but she does offer a comprehensive course on sourdough which I have taken and recommend. Or you can access wonderful recipes directly on her blog. You an also sign up for her weekly newsletter which recaps the week's events. She also hosts a WONDERFUL blog hop every Thursday - which always has delivers interesting posts from like-minded bloggers.

Intermediate/Advanced:

1. This site is a delightful place to go for the one who likes to read about all things sour dough. They reference many other places and a comprehensive book about sourdough that can be purchased through Kindle called Discovering Sourdough at Northwest Sourdough I am putting this under the Intermediate/advanced section because it isn't as easy to navigate as other sites and it may be better appreciated after one has a foundation in sourdough. The recipes are using done in weights and advanced baking terms are used, so it assumes the reader understands those things. There isn't (at the time of this writing) a clear recipe index either...but it still a WONDERFUL site worth exploring for anyone who is serious about sour dough! It also has an AMAZING blog list for other places! So it's a wonderful place when you are in the mood to take sourdough bunny trail adventures!

 2. You can Do it At Home has a wonderful category on her blog for sourdough breads that she has tried. She shares the recipes and the books she found them in. There recipes use weights and baker's terms, which may be intimidating to some. However, it is a resource worth bookmarking if you want to try some new recipes!

Sourdough Community:
Sourdough.com is a wonderful membership based forum of folks that share everything sourdough! You'll conversation, Q&A, recipes, videos, blogs, a store and even jobs!

Sourdough Surprises is a blog that I just found, and am looking forward to exploring more!  From what I have seen thus far, it is a wonderful resource for sourdough recipes and links to other blogs with sour dough recipes!  They have this neat format where you can join in with a sourdough topic for the month and share your recipes that you tried that month for the item.  I was searching the web for sourdough scone inspiration when I found them.  What a wonderful way to encourage one another in art of sourdough!  I love it.  I want to play!