My Sourdough Story: Making Baking Fit Real Life
I'm not a fancy pro baker with a secret ancestral starter passed down through generations. I've a full time job in tech, a lovely wife and two young kids. I'm just a big fan of baking and cooking.
Like many, I jumped headfirst into the sourdough craze during lockdown. My initial attempts? Let's just say they ranged from 'interestingly dense' to 'potential doorstop'. There were frisbees. There were bricks. My family politely endured my experiments.
But I persisted and kept tweaking, simplifying and experimenting to figure out a way to make great bread that didn't require quitting my job or sacrificing sleep for a ridiculously complex schedule. It had to fit around real life – school runs, zoom calls and busy kids' social calendars.
Through trial, error, and way too much flour, I perfected a method that works for me. It's reliable, tasty and produces a consistent loaf every day for my family.
Crucially, it was flexible, forgiving and didn't demand constant attention. I shared the method with friends and family who'd previously been scared off by sourdough and seeing them succeed was brilliant. That's what led me to this site – a place to share this simple, foolproof approach more widely.
The Basic Loaf Philosophy: Keep it Simple!
Sourdough has this reputation for being difficult, temperamental, almost mystical. It doesn't have to be!
The core ideas I share are:
- Simplicity: Minimal steps, minimal fuss. We focus on what really matters to make an amazing loaf of bread.
- Flexibility: This recipe is designed to work around you, not the other way around. Can't bake at your original time, no problem - leave the loaf in the fridge. Can't do that stretch and fold because you're busy? No problem - skip it!
- Low Effort: Your time is precious. This method relies on long, slow fermentation where time does the hard work, not you.
- Foolproof: Designed to be reliable and forgiving, reducing the chance of failure and those early 'doorstop' loaves.
- No Waste: We use the 'scrapings' method for feeding the starter – no unnecessary feeding and discarding!
The goal isn't just to give you a recipe, but to demystify the process and share with you a technique to bake amazing sourdough bread confidently, even with a busy life - like I have.
Follow Along / Get in Touch
While this site covers the core method, you will find me sharing random loaves and other cooking adventures on instagram: @william_the_poon.
Happy baking!