Wild Bread: Sourdough Reinvented

I was given this book and some mature starter last December as a wedding gift, so I jumped right into the Advanced Dutch-Oven Bread (p. 168). I've had so much fun with it that I purchased another copy as a gift for a friend.I've been baking bread using this recipe at least once a week now for six months and I'm having so much fun! I've tried experimenting with the recipe - adjusting the proof time, using the refrigerator for the final proof, splitting the dough into two smaller loaves before the final proof, etc. Although I've had a lot of successes with my experimentation, every now and then when I've experimented, I've had a failure - and by failure, I mean an over-proofed dough that let out all its gas when I scored it with the bread lame; I still baked it and it tasted delicious, just not as airy.But every time that I've actually followed the written recipe, I've had success - 100% of the time!So far, I've only made this recipe from the book and I've only used white flour. One of the coolest things about this book is that it includes measurements for using other flours - kamut, sprouted wheat, einkorn, quinoa, rice, etc. Maybe someday I'll try a different flour, but right now the bread made with white flour is so good, I feel addicted to it. I'm currently making two full loaves every week and splitting each of those in half. I do the final proof in the fridge and bake a half-loaf when I wake up in the morning. So four days a week, my husband wakes up to the smell of fresh bread in the house. :) It's so good. The picture is a half-loaf of bread that I baked a week ago.I'm an experienced baker and I often use a scale to measure ingredients by weight. I've found that using the volume measures recommend in the book has worked great. I know some people like to be very detailed about their bread making, but I've enjoyed being more relaxed about it and I've been successful every time I actually followed the written recipe, so I'm quite happy.If I want to measure my flour by weight in the future, I could take the volume measurements and convert them to weight measurements and adjust the precision of the weight measurements with subsequent bakes. I've actually done this with the salt and honey measurements (I typically substitute maple syrup for the honey). I got tired of dirtying a measuring spoon for honey, so I started weighing it out. I just eye-balled it on the scale and it worked great. I did the same for the salt. If weight measures are important to you, you can convert the volume measures to weight measures and dial in the precision as you continue to bake. In general, I think it helps to be a bit relaxed about learning to make bread and open to experimenting. Even my failures from experimenting have tasted good.Although I am an experienced baker, I am new to breadmaking. This book has been such a wonderful introduction to making bread. I've taught three friends this recipe now and they are making bread of their own now, too. I'm excited to explore some of the other recipes in this book. This book is worth it for the Advanced Dutch-Oven Bread alone!!

This is my favorite book on sourdough baking! The instructions and recipes are clear and easy to follow. I made my own starter using this method. It worked exactly as described. Also, this book gives you recipes to use while your starter (mother) is gaining strength so that you can use it right away. Plus, this book includes recipes for just about any kind of bread or baked goods you can think of. The Advanced Dutch Oven Bread and Sandwich Loaf are currently my go-to recipes, but we are also enjoying pizza crust, calzones, waffles, and Parker House rolls to name a few. Plus, each recipe provides instructions for many different kinds of flour, and several are gluten-free. This has turned out to be my best sourdough baking book. I'm very grateful for all of the work they put into the research and testing for home baking!

Beautiful book, fun to read and to follow. Lots of steps to her recipes.

This is a very detailed and excellent source on making sourdough starters, including gluten free. I don't need the gluten free versions but I'm glad I have these instructions. I already have mastered sourdough but I always enjoy learning more. This book is exactly what I wanted. I like the author's detailed step by step instruction which is excellent.What I do not like is the constant change in font size. I find this extremely annoying. I don't mean to squash anyone's creative spirit. I realize this is meant to emphasize important points but I wish it was just consistent font size. I found the smaller text and change harder to read.One reviewer was put off by the equipment used by the author. I plan to try this method and improvise by using a glass bowl I already have and a pie plate. Flour sack towels can be purchased here on Amazon but Walmart has them much cheaper. For for the flour sack towels used for food use I never use detergent (and they are never used for anything else). I wash and rinse them in white vinegar only.I do recommend this book highly. I'm glad I purchased it.

I bought the necessary glasslock bowl , glass pie pan, half dozen flour cloths, and the covered pyrex loaf pans. I also found it necessary to purchase the Brod & Taylor proofer since my Texas kitchen is too cool in winter to allow bread to rise. I followed MaryJane's directions first for the batter bread, for Boule, English Muffins, and hamburger buns exactly. The instructions in Wild Bread are carefully laid out step by step. You can't go wrong with taking a month to make Refrigerator Mother. And now that my Mother is in a covered pyrex loaf pan in the refrigerator, it couldn't be easier the night before bake day to get the bread started for Bake Day. The only thing I needed to slightly change from the instructions was the temperature on the night before bake days was to proof it overnight at 75 degrees On bake days turning the proofer to 80 degrees or it would not get the bubbles you look for to see if it's ready. This may be because I did not use the breads Wild Breads suggests using . Instead, I used King Arthur Medium Rye for the Mother and also Bread Flour and Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground whole wheat when making the breads. (Eventually, I would like to purchase some of those grains suggested in Wild Bread). Following the instructions, nothing ever failed; I never had to turn the batter into pancakes or waffles. 72-73 was too low for my house, and on Bake Day morning proof at 80 degrees. was a must. And once in the cast iron bread pan or glass dish it will bake in, I proof at 85 degrees using the water pan in the Brod and Taylor. A perfect book of instructions for Wild Yeast!

Love the way the book is laid out and pictures are awesome they add a lot to this recipe book

Very detailed yet clear and simple. Everything a person needs in the book to make amazing sourdough.