The Sourdough School: A Comprehensive Guide to Crafting Healthy, Gut-Friendly Bread

Gilles Caron: It is full of recipes and new informations about sourdough

Canada on Nov 29, 2023

Deborah: Very useful book, clear, easy to follow instruction and explanations. Will be able to make bread follow these directions

Canada on Nov 04, 2023

C. Morgan: Our family is full of enthusiastic bread makers; I made my first sourdough start (Alaskan) when I was about 12 and got many, many loaves of bread from it.

My sister recommended this book; she is an expert breadmaker herself and knows I enjoy the science behind baking almost more than the actual baking. This is one of the first books I've seen on sourdough that breaks down the actual composition of the starter and its potential flavor profiles.

I grew up near San Francisco, so I've always loved the deep tang of sourdoughs from that area. Commercial bakery attempts to reproduce them using other ingredients (acetic acid, yogurt, lemon juice, etc) are usually disastrous. It was great to see this book offer suggestions for flours, methods, and particular strains of lactobacilli that get you close to that great flavor.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves to make bread.

United States on Oct 21, 2023

Underwhelmed: This book goes into the details of the sourdough process. Perhaps too much information for those who just want to follow a recipe then slap it in the oven. However if you are a keen experimenter and want to understand how to create different loves then this book will help you. There are also some great recipes to try out

Australia on May 17, 2023

Coop: To begin with, I bought this book because I wanted to build my sourdough starter and kept failing. With Vanessa's instructions it worked from day one and felt like a very straightforward and fun process. As I am typing this my starter is almost a year old and thriving happily.
The bread baking process was an emotional journey... It definitely took time for me. Not because the book isn't good enough - it's simply impossible to learn all the techniques by reading. You need to see the process at least once. So I did. I found a couple of bakers on social media, watched them, listened to their advice and then combined those tips with the book and wow, I started getting beautiful loaves every time! It is like a mediation for me nowadays.
The book is packed with information on sourdough, grains, gut health, tips and gorgeous, gorgeous photography. And I adore how passionate Vanessa is about the subject and, in a way, taking us back to the roots, cultural history, appreciation of proper flavours and real food. We need more people like her out there.
I've now got her other book, too. Cannot wait to start baking something sweet.

United Kingdom on Apr 28, 2023

Amazon Customer: I have 20 sticky notes marking various pages in the book. The author gives good information into the science of sour dough. It was confusing to me to jump back and forth from technique to recipe. I found, although I've been making sour dough for years, that I needed to read the book first and then go back to actually bake. That is exactly what the author tells the reader. The recipes are good.

United States on Mar 17, 2023

Nicolas: Produto muito bom com ótimo custo-benefício

Brazil on Jan 07, 2023

Star Campbell: I dont understand the negative reviews or comments about being better off watching Utube videos. This is, bar none, the fastest and simplest way of getting sourdough into your breadbox i have EVER seen! Two feedings at 15 minutes apiece and one final dough mix that takes less time than greasing the pans and getting the dough into them!. I have been giving this bread away after my husband's years of stomach issues simply STOPPED and three people who have not been able to eat bread in years are enjoying it now. I make up starter kits with discard and full instructions and so far have given away 8 of those. Vanessa has done an astounding service in writing this book and i am eagerly awaiting her sweet sourdough cookbook!

United States on Aug 24, 2020

Jim: I like this book because of the information it provides. I have been baking sourdough bread for a few years with varying degrees of success. Sometimes I get a wonderful loaf with a thin crisp crust and a light airy crumb. Most of the time I get one with a thick hard crust and a wet crumb. The crust shatters when you cut it and the crumb is inedible. The baking information she has is different from mine. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

There is one problem I see. She has done the same thing I see time and again in sourdough recipes. She has ignored the effect of the leaven on the hydration percent of the dough. On page 114 the recipe says the hydration percent is 73 %. It is if you ignore the flour and water in the leaven. It is 76% if you don't.

If you want a 70% hydration dough and use 700 grams of water and 1000 grams of flour,
700/1000 = 70%. But if you have 200 grams of leaven with a 50:50 ratio. The real numbers are
(700 + 100) / (1000 + 100) = 800/1100 = 73%.

I think I read that Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery also ignores this.

United States on May 02, 2020

Leah: I'm a complete beginner with bread. My partner has celiac's disease and I have a gluten intolerance. I never thought I would make bread let alone eat it without feeling awful. While I do feel guilty making and eating bread around someone who is actually allergic to it, I have a very difficult time getting in grains otherwise as I'm allergic to amaranth, which is in most gluten free whole grain bread. Anyways, this book is such a breath of fresh air. I have several bread books that have recipes and how to's, but this isn't just a recipe book (though it does have some simply divine looking recipes) it is a tome of bread science and knowledge. From soil to flour, from flour to hands, from hands to starter she explains the microorganisms. She goes in depth on different types of wheat and different types of starters. You truly must read the whole book before moving forward with making bread and if that's not your cup of tea-that's understandable. However, I am quite positive, if you like knowing why and how/ love learning, then you will love this book.

United States on Jun 06, 2019