Handmade Sourdough: From Starter to Baked Loaf

Make artisanal sourdough your household norm. Discover the techniques you need to make a variety of sourdough breads, from starter to beautifully baked loaves.

Craft naturally leavened hearth breads from the comfort of your kitchen! Join bread expert Richard Miscovich, as he shares essential sourdough techniques every bread baker should know. Create and care for your starter so that you’re always ready to make fresh, flavorful bread. Learn alternate fermentation methods to speed up or slow down the process, making bread baking more realistic for your modern schedule. Master the classic French sourdough, pain au levain.  Discover how versatile sourdough is by working your way through olive focaccia, rosemary and olive fougasses, whole-grain and tangy rye breads. You’ll learn the classic French method of mixing dough and kneading by hand, but also pick up tips on the proper way to make dough using a stand mixer. Make your best bread yet with these time-honored techniques.

• 6 HD video lessons with anytime, anywhere access
• Class materials that include recipes and a comprehensive guide to making sourdough starters
• Hours of close-up instruction
• Answers from Richard in our virtual classroom

• Watch classes on your own schedule: wherever, whenever you want
• Your access never expires
• 100% money back guarantee

1. Introduction (19:19)

   Meet your instructor, expert baker Richard Miscovich, and find out what makes sourdough bread different from yeasted breads. Take a peek into the science behind natural fermentation and learn how to create, grow and feed your own sourdough starter.

2. Making Pain au Levain (24:49)

   Once you have a healthy starter, use it to create a preferment, or levain, the leavening agent that is the base of your sourdough. You’ll learn about the autolyse method, which holds back the salt in the early mixing of the dough to make strong gluten bonds. Richard demonstrates several ways to knead the dough, including the traditional French cutting method.

3. Baking Pain au Levain (27:41)

   After your dough has rested, shape it into a long batard and a round boule, and then score their tops and bake them in the oven. Don’t have a cloche? No worries; Richard will show you several methods for covering and baking loaves using ordinary kitchen equipment, and easy ways to create steam in your home oven.

4. Pain au Levain Variations (13:57)

   Now that you’ve mastered how to make a classic sourdough bread, expand your repertoire with three variations: olive focaccia, rosemary fougasse and olive fougasse. Learn how to keep the balance in the dough formula when adding other ingredients.

5. Goin' Whole Grain (19:26)

   Increase the healthy whole-grain content of your bread as you learn how to sprout whole wheatberries to add to your whole-wheat dough. Learn how whole grains affect hydration and how to vary your mixing and finishing techniques to create hearty loaves.

6. Something's Gone A-Rye (24:17)

   Embrace the dark side as you bake along with Richard to make rye bread and its Danish cousin, Rugbrød. Richard shows you how to incorporate a stand mixer into your bread making and demonstrates the different techniques that are necessary with the addition of rye flour.

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