Free Inquiry Topic – Baking Sourdough Bread!
Why I Chose Sourdough.
For my Free Inquiry Project, I have chosen to dive into the challenge of learning how to successfully bake sourdough bread. As an avid baker for many years, I have made plenty of cookies, muffins, brownies, even wedding cakes, yet have never attempted to bake a sourdough loaf. What particularly intrigued me about this challenge, and what also led me to choose this as my topic, is that I have seen hundreds of posts online where bakers have struggled to create a successful product. Some of the errors I can recall seeing were dense, flat and gummy loaves, which could have been due to their inaccuracy of fermentation, water, temperature etc.
Furthermore, I chose to learn how to bake sourdough as it requires a considerable amount of practice and skill. I am already familiar with knowing how to follow a recipe, accurately measure ingredients, and have previous experience kneading and baking dough. Considering my current baking abilities, I am confident that at the end of this project, I will have mastered the challenge of baking a loaf of sourdough bread.
I am inspired to understand how the all the different variables and techniques affect the result and I look forward to documenting my process along the way.
INITIAL QUESTIONS BEFORE I BEGIN MY INQUIRY:
- How do I know when my sourdough starter is ready?
- How long will it take me to create an active sourdough starter?
- How many attempts will it take me to create a successful loaf?
- How long does a sourdough loaf bake for?