how to guides Archives | Go Eat Your Bread With Joy

May 23, 2019

Feeding a Sourdough Starter without Having to Discard: a Method

As shown in the last post, there are lots of ways to feed a sourdough starter. Most of the time, newbies learn a method that involves regularly discarding (i.e., throwing away or repurposing) half or almost all of the starter they maintain. But it’s not the only way. Below is a look at feeding a sourdough starter without having to discard–and how and why it can be better.

In what sometimes feels like another life from the one we’re now living, my husband, Tim, and I wrote a cookbook, The Einkorn Cookbook. While it was primarily about featuring 100+ recipes for ancient (original, nonhybridized) wheat, it included a few recipes for sourdough. We (he) developed those recipes during our household’s first season with sourdough–one in which we discarded a big chunk of the starter every time we baked. I loved the bread; I hated the discarding. We both wished there were a better way.

Turns out, there is.

January 21, 2019

How to Make Sourdough Starter Last Indefinitely: A Guide to Dehydrating

If you want to know how to make sourdough starter last indefinitely, the secret’s dehydration. Any time you want, you can press the pause button on your bread baking. Just put your starter on hold! So to help you set your starter on autopilot, here’s a recently tested step-by-step dehydration guide.

How to make your #sourdough starter last indefinitely / Go Eat Your Bread with Joy

[editor’s note: this post was updated in April 2019 based on more testing! updated instructions in below post.]

Talk to people about sourdough starters, and expect someone to scare you. “It’s like a pet or a child!” “You’re going to kill it!” “What will happen when you travel for work or pleasure, or you’re in the hospital, or you face some unexpected tragedy in life?”

You’ll hear your starter needs constant care. Someone will say to find a loyal friend you can count on to treat it as his or her own. But all this counsel is unnecessary because here’s the truth: you can take a break from maintaining your sourdough starter any time you want.

December 17, 2018

How to Make Date Paste

If you aren’t already familiar with how to make date paste, here’s what you need to know: It’s essentially a four-step process. Trying it gives you a new valuable player in your unrefined-sweetener game. It doesn’t take much time, and it offers all kinds of uses. Here’s how!

To anyone who’s used unrefined sweeteners, tried a sugar-free diet or blended raw ingredients to make desserts, Medjool dates are nothing new. Plump and meaty, they’re sweet enough to flavor the crust of raw brownies and beneficial enough to be recommended to pregnant women in their third trimesters. Use them to make date paste, and they become even more versatile.

December 6, 2018

How to Make Bone Broth Taste Better

There’s nothing complicated about making bone broth (aka stock), essentially just bones and water cooked long on the stove. But when it comes to how to make bone broth taste better, there are a few tips and tricks that can help. Whether you’re new to the idea or have been frustrated with your efforts, here’s what you’ll want to know.

1. Start with roasted bones.

November 18, 2018

How to Make Turkey Stuffing from Scratch

When it comes to how to make turkey stuffing from scratch, a lot of people have opinions. What tastes like the real deal to you is probably what someone else used to make for you (nostalgia!). But, whether it’s cornbread or white bread, in the bird or out, the good news is there’s no wrong answer. You do you! And, just for fun, to give you a peek into a few other households, here’s my pick for how to make turkey stuffing from scratch, as well as four other inspired ideas from around the web.

In a recent informal Instagram survey, many of you voiced strong opinions about stuffing. Or dressing. Read More

August 30, 2018

How to Bake Long-Fermented Sourdough Bread

Long-fermented sourdough bread is sort of the gold standard of natural leavening. Particularly if you’re interested in the health benefits from sourdough, you will care that a long fermentation means more time to break down phytic acid as well as the bran of the grain for digestibility. Min Kim of the beautiful Instagram account Min’s Kitchen created her recipe with this in mind. Available online, it requires no kneading, is largely hands off and yet offers all the benefits of a long-fermented sourdough bread.

Traditional foods teacher Min Kim first became interested in true sourdough bread when trying to help her daughter deal with repeated sinus infections. After having her daughter remove all grains and try the GAPS diet for gut healing, her family began to slowly reintroduce only properly prepared grains. Understanding that the traditional method of making long-fermented sourdough bread meant making bread easier to digest, she started baking it herself.Read More