Today’s experimental loaf of bread was an educational experience. I think I have figured out why the last bread almost failed and today’s completely failed. Either my sourdough starter has become weak, or it’s the garlic I added the last two times. A combination of both seems most likely.

Anyway, today’s experimental loaf of bread is likely not even going to see the inside of a hot oven. I’ve never given up on a loaf of bread so early in the process. I’m going to ignore it until I go to bed. If it has some life in it at all and seems to be trying to rise, I’ll ignore it until I get up in the morning. If it hasn’t become something more like bread dough that is ready to go into an oven by then, into the trash it goes.

I think I am giving up on sourdough bread altogether for a while. It just seems like so much hassle with few rewards. The bread is good, but it just takes too much time and careful coordination for my personality. If I have to think about making bread more than a couple hours in advance of actually making bread, it won’t happen. It’s too scheduled. I like bread making to be spontaneous … like I’ll wake up in the morning, and the light in the kitchen will be just right, and I’ll decide to bake some bread, as opposed to I have to take the starter out of the fridge and feed it a day before I want to use it, and once that’s done, the next day, whether the light is right in the kitchen –or I even feel like baking bread– or it sets off a whole chain of things that must be done to wait and see if I feel like it the next day. That is seriously too much work and activity for something as relatively simple as baking bread. It’s begun to feel less like a fun, spiritual, and meditative experience and more like … work.

I’m glad I kept with the sourdough experiment for a while. I now know that I can take a little water and a little flour, and I can create a yeast culture of my own, should the need ever arise. It’s a useful skill to have, but I think I’ll go back to spontaneously using packaged yeast and baking bread on my schedule and not the schedule the yeast would prefer. Baking bread should be a joyful experience … even when it ends with less than perfect bread. It’s about the process and not the end result. Having edible bread when all is said and done is nice though. :lol: