Starting my Sourdough Journey: What I’ve Learned (So Far)

If you’ve ever thought about starting your own sourdough journey, let me be the first to tell you DO IT!!!!

I absolutely love a beautifully baked sourdough loaf, yet I often found myself simply picking it up from my local bakery. The reality is, my love for baking runs deep, but I hesitated to dive into the world of sourdough because it felt “intimidating.” As a baker by trade, I’m rekindling my passion by not just baking but also crafting delicious treats from my sourdough starter and discard. It is allowing me to face my ‘fears’ and forcing me to get back to baking and recipe testing consistently.

This post isn’t a recipe, it is a reflection. My beginner’s look at what this journey has been so far. Let me tell you, I’m going to be eating sourdough everything all summer long lol.

Why Sourdough?

Honestly, I was scrolling on Facebook and all the reels that were popping up were sourdough. I mean I was in a sourdough trance lol. I remember messaging my friend, sharing reels telling her I want to slap some dough around lol. NOW HERE WE ARE! There really isn’t much to it. I know that sourdough is a labour of love and believe me my belly thanks me lol. Since my goal is to open my own bakery, having my starter for years to come only makes sense.

It started out being about me slapping some dough around, but it has been igniting a part of me I thought I have lost.

Meet Fred: My Sourdough Starter

Let me introduce you to my son Fred, yes, he is my son. I feed this young man and change his clothes daily lol. That’s my child lol. I held a Live stream on YouTube and he received his name there. (we’ll talk about the live streams later)

I started Fred on March 9^th,2025, at 1:30pm, (yes, I have all the dates lol). I know many people are particular about what they use to start their sourdough starter, but I’ll be honest, I used what I had at the time, and I have never looked back.

This is a look at how I cultivated Fred

Stage 1 : Creating the starter March 9^th

125g Ap Flour
125g warm water (I used tap)

Mix ingredients together and put in a container. Let sit until doubled.

This part was tricky for me, when we first started he was put in clear plastic container. I wanted to make my starter and did not want to wait for the “right” equipment. Since we started, he has had many homes lol. Why? Because I didn’t know I would have the monster I have now. I honestly didn’t think of getting a glass container at the time not sure what I was thinking. I was also nervous when I started, my place isn’t warm, and I was 100% doubting myself. I covered the container with a kitchen towel and left it alone and this helped

Note: This first stage is crucial. My starter created hooch ( a layer of alcohol), it was sluggish at first, I really thought I messed up. I was out here googling that happened, why it happened etc. I waited 2 full days to refresh my starter. That’s when I really started to pay attention to Fred.

Stage 2: My first refresh. March 12^th

125g Ap flour
250g starter – use starter from Stage 1

I tried to make sure my measurements were precise because let’s face it I really didn’t have much faith in me when I started this sourdough starter. I was nervous! I was also reading different posts and watching different videos comparing Fred to others, then I stopped. I had to focus in on Fred and develop him. I was checking the smell and look of the starter because I wanted to make note of any subtle changes that were taking place.

Note: My mixture sometimes produces a stiff dough, and I was tempted to add water because why is this so stiff. Don’t, just trust the process.

Stage 3: Refresh and beyond March 15^th

188g Ap flour
95g water
125g starter- use starter from stage 2

By this stage I had an idea of what I was looking for in my starter, smell, look and even viscosity. I even upgraded his home. He moved into a glass jar which allowed me to see how much he has grown over time. The refresh process was a tricky one because I would try to be precise in my measurements but sometimes, I was a few grams over. To be fair, I am just trusting myself and Fred to act right lol. By this stage, I started trusting myself more and became more confident with my starter.

Note: After the refresh in stage 3, you refresh every 1-2 days maybe even 3. This is estimated, why? Because every environment is different. I used the recipe in stage 3 to do all subsequent refreshes. It took Fred 2 full days to double in size when I just started, so my refreshes happened that way. I did not put him in the oven to stay warm, no, I left Fred on my dinning room table with a kitchen towel over him. Nothing special, nothing unique and nothing expensive.

I also want to add that when I felt comfortable enough, I doubled my recipe for refreshing because I felt like Fred was being a little sluggish and I really wanted to see what would happen. Hey that’s the point of experimenting right?

What Sourdough Has Taught Me

I’m going to be real with you, making anything with Fred has been very humbling lol. Sometimes it works and other times we gotta get back into the kitchen and try again. It is not like my other bread recipes, where I can combine ingredients and figure it out later (I am not there yet with my sourdough bread). Sometimes I get instant gratification when I use my sourdough discard and others I have to wait overnight and then some.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far on my sourdough journey:

Patience. When I tell you this journey is teaching me patience. I know bread baking takes time, but sourdough REALLLLYYYYYY takes time. It forces me to slow down. Slow down and pay attention.
Perfection is subjective. I say this because like myself I’m sure they are many people out here wanting to achieve the perfect airy crumb sourdough loaf. The truth is I’m not there yet. I decided to take my time to learn through my sourdough journey. I got discouraged when my first few loafs were flat lol literally flat. I paid attention to what was in front of me and not the image I had in my head. Once I did this, it became easier for me.

Trust. It’s forcing me to trust my instincts. Believe that what I am doing can be achieved, because let me tell you when I am making anything with Fred doubt sometimes comes over me. I am forced to trust what I see, what I smell, trust my skills and trust Fred.
Being Prepared. Babyyyyyyyyyyyy let me tell you. I went through a 10lb bag of flour in less than a month experimenting with Fred. That’s it! Make sure you always have flour on hand lol because with daily refreshes that bag gets empty really quickly.

It’s funny how a jar of flour and water can start teaching you things you often overlook.

I spent an entire week fighting my way through baking the perfect loaf. Flat, flatter and flattest lol that’s what I got. I even got it LIVE streaming. Once that happened on LIVE I said girl, get it together let’s do this!

What’s Next in My Sourdough Diary

I started a YouTube series about my Sourdough journey, titled Sourdough Diaries. I have been going live baking my way through my discard. Yes, keep that discard, it is literally gold! I have been using my discard to make delicious treats like, banana bread, fish cakes, carrot cake, hush puppies and the list goes on. I will share these recipes with you over the next few weeks. You can also watch me live stream and see my entire thought process while I work with Fred. The live stream series has been a fun way for me to connect with my subscribers and to share my love for baking with other people. Have I always made perfect items no, but they were always delicious lol. As Fred matures, his flavour is more intense and I love it.

Now back to my active discard. I kept mine at room temperature daily then one day he got overactive, and I had to put him in timeout lol. No seriously I had to clean Fred up and put him in the fridge. The cold slows down fermentation which allows me to have my discard a lot longer. When I refresh Big Fred (that what I call him lol) I just add the leftover discard to Fred Jr. (the discard jar). Once in the jar, I just use a wooden spoon to stir so that the discard from the bottom can be mixed with the fresh one.

I haven’t baked the perfect loaf yet, but I’ve baked my loaves. And that’s enough for now. Each time I bake a loaf, I try to do something a little different. I have been creating dense and heavy loaves over my week of sourdough baking. No rise, lots of flavour but it’s a bread’s cousin for sure lol. I make note of all the things I did and started to do differently because I want to make sure I can replicate my perfect loaf. I would encourage you to make your own notes, go based on your environment and starter. It’s a mutual relationship, you take care of it and it should take care of you!

Let’s Learn Together

Next I’ll be sharing my new go-to pancake recipe using sourdough discard (spoiler: it’s fluffy and addictive). It’s a great first make if you’re nervous about full on sourdough bread. Like I said in the past I am NERVOUS every single time I make something with Fred. It’s new territory but it’s a fun process.

If you are trying to decide if you want to start your own sourdough journey, just do it. Am I a sourdough expert? no, but this is my place to learn, grow and share. You don’t need any fancy tools or years of baking experience. Just a little faith, flour and time.

The above loaf was made with some tweaks since my April 13th try.

I’ll be documenting my sourdough journey here as well as YouTube while sharing high, lows and delicious recipes. As time passes, I will share tips and tricks that have helped me throughout this journey.

If you’re on your own sourdough journey (or thinking about it), I’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below, send a message, whatever works for you. Either way, I’m glad you’re here. We’ll figure it out together, one recipe or failed bread at a time.

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