April 18, 2021 by Mel Saunders

The Sourdough Diaries - Part 1

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Seymour the Sourdough

The Sourdough Diaries: Part One

Meet Seymour. Born 17th April 2021, weighing 50g.

I’ve dabbled in sourdough before. I didn’t name that one, which I think was my first mistake. It got put in a cupboard and I enthusiastically fed it for a while, until I became overrun with discard and suddenly found I had no time to do anything with any of it, and no time to make any delicious bread. Eventually Mr Birdsong became so irritated with the various containers of smelly goo in the fridge (with no sourdoughy deliciousness to show for it) that he declared enough was enough.

I’ve been wary of sourdough ever since. Didn’t even cave during the first lockdown when it seemed that everyone and their uncle was trying it. Nope, too tricky for me, not falling into that trap again.

I don’t know what’s suddenly come over me now - embarrassingly late to the sourdough party, turning up when everyone else has gone home - but here I am, with Seymour. Maybe it’s the beautiful artisanal loaves I keep seeing on Instagram that I will, in all likelihood, never be able to recreate. Maybe it’s that I upgraded my scales to some that do bakers percentages and I’m curious about this weird, new (to me) concept. Whatever it is, here I am with this Named Starter (believe me, it makes a huge difference, it feels like another pet) and I certainly feel a lot more optimistic this time. I’ve also learned a MUCH better method by a YouTube baker called Bake With Jack, which results in No Discard!! A revelation when I think back to the jars of horrible white slop we were swimming in last time. Huzzah.

My first experiment will be attempting to master bagels, then I’m tackling a loaf. I’ve got my proving basket, dough cutter, lame and enthusiasm all ready, and Seymour is getting daily feeds (of flour and water, not people - little shop of horrors ref there). I’ll keep you posted; wish us luck!

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