“A splendid and novel approach that takes the mystery out of a formerly time-consuming process.”
—Kirkus Reviews

SMART SOURDOUGH

The No‑Starter, No‑Waste, No‑Cheat, No‑Fail Way to Make Naturally Fermented Bread in 24 Hours or Less with a Home Proofer, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Sous Vide Cooker, or Other Warmer

By Mark Shepard
Foreword by Anne L. Watson

(30 seconds)

General Info
Reviews and Comments
Contents
Sample Text

NO STARTER — NO WASTE — NO CHEAT — NO FAIL

NATURALLY FERMENTED BREAD IN JUST 24 HOURS

There’s sourdough, and then there’s smart sourdough—a whole new approach to an ancient bread!

Most sourdough recipes lead you through days or even weeks of developing a starter before you can make your bread—and then into a lifetime of maintaining that starter. But this book is based on the belief that all that rigmarole is no longer needed. With modern methods of regulating temperature, and with the easy availability of baker’s yeast, honest-to-goodness naturally fermented sourdough bread can be made from start to finish in less than a day.

With all the benefits of naturally fermented sourdough, it’s only the hassle of making it that has discouraged home bakers. Well, hassle no more. The age of smart sourdough has arrived.

Mark Shepard began baking his own sourdough bread in 1979 and went on to publish the bestselling booklet Simple Sourdough. In 2012, he began developing a sourdough method that’s even simpler and more reliable—one that could be used by anyone, with no fear of failure. Mark now lives in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and fellow author, Anne L. Watson.

Shepard Publications

Hardcover ~ 2021

Paperback ~ 2021

Ebook ~ 2021

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Reviews and Comments

“A fresh new look at making your own sourdough bread . . . I love Mark's attention to detail. No matter your setup, tools, or needs, he's got you covered . . . I questioned his use of a pinch or two of baker's yeast, but his research and experiments have me sold. His recipes combine the advantages of cultivated yeast and naturally occurring sourdough bacteria to make bread that actually rises and doesn't take days to make.”—Holly Howe, author of Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut

“Mark Shepard shares how to make sourdough bread, with its characteristic flavor and health benefits, without maintaining a long-term starter. It’s relevant to anyone looking to save time in the kitchen, learn a new technique, or just read a very detailed and interesting book on sourdough.”—Emily Buehler, author of Bread Science: The Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread

“I have always wanted to do sourdough, but I am away from home A LOT and often hubby is with me, so there would be no one at home to maintain the starter. BRING ON THE INSTANT POT!!! It is so simple, I have zero idea why this book was not written years ago . . . Want a great wedding gift idea? This book, an Instant Pot, flour, and yeast. They will thank you forever!”—Janet Cousineau, Poppy-Coloured Pages (Facebook group), April 27, 2021

“At the beginning of the pandemic, I (and most of the rest of the planet) decided to start a sourdough culture and make my own sourdough. I mixed the ingredients, kept everything scrupulously clean, followed the instructions—and it was a total, completely disgusting failure. So, I was a bit skeptical of the author’s no-fail, 24-hour workaround which doesn’t require a refrigerated starter culture. I followed his directions and used our Instant Pot to keep the dough evenly warm, added a little yeast at the end of the process, and managed to make a credible loaf of sourdough in 24 hours . . . Five stars.”—Annie Buchanan, Nonstop Reader (blog), June 1, 2021

“If you survived the pandemic without making sourdough, then THIS is your book. You can get ahead of everybody else, with the quickest recipe possible for amazing bread, pizza dough, pancakes, and dosa! . . . As a homeschool mom, I’d also say that since you’re basically growing bacteria and watching for reactions, it would be a great book for a Kitchen Chemistry or Biology class!”—Nicole Henke, Bless Their Hearts Mom (blog), Aug. 6, 2021

From Kirkus Reviews, April 22, 2022

A guidebook that introduces a quicker, easier, and more modern method to creating homemade sourdough bread.

Journalist and author Shepard expands on his former cookbook Simple Sourdough (2005) in this technique-driven guide that effectively simplifies making sourdough items with instructional recipes, tips, and tricks. His straightforward strategy is particularly notable in that it takes less than a day and doesn’t use a starter. The book is accessibly organized into sections covering the method’s various techniques. An opening chapter quickly dispels some common misconceptions about the sourdough process (such as what frothy starter bubbles really mean, and the necessity of salt) and moves on to discuss the four basic ingredients one needs to create his version of a four-cycle sourdough. The author also examines and rates warming devices and proofing equipment for dexterity, reliability, and proven effectiveness in making quality bread, making the work a useful product guide. Shepard knowledgeably discusses salinity and aeration when starting a yeast cycle and proudly touts his revolutionary “no-waste” fermentation method; the use of modern temperature controls, he points out, can help one create a sourdough batch from fermented flour by adopting leavening principles used in larger bakeries. Easy-to-follow instructions emphasize the importance of quality ingredients, manual kneading, and the proper conditions for dough to ferment, rise, and bake properly. The author helpfully recognizes that his readers have many different preferences, so he provides useful chapters spotlighting how bakers can customize dough formation and taste variations based on loaf size, sourness level, and flavor diversifications; methods for rye, buckwheat, tomato basil, chocolate cherry, and other loaves are included, as well as sections on bread bowls, pizza crusts, and pancakes. Any nagging questions that readers may have are succinctly addressed in an illuminating final chapter that tackles common bread-baking issues. The book is also generously illustrated with charts, illustrations, and photographs by the author. Overall, Shepard’s book will encourage home bakers of any skill level to embark on a new, quicker, and easier way to make their own bread.

A splendid and novel approach that takes the mystery out of a formerly time-consuming process.

Contents

Foreword by Anne L. Watson

Getting Started

Sourdough Superstitions

Who’s Afraid of Baker’s Yeast?

The Right Ingredients

Flour Fallacies

The Right Equipment

Why Weigh Your Flour?

The Right Conditions

The Right Method

The Right Setup

Brød & Taylor Proofer Setup

Instant Pot Setup

Sous Vide Setup

Testing Your Setup

Sponge Setup Test

Loaf Setup Test

Making Smart Sourdough

Smart Sourdough (recipe sketch)

Smart Sourdough (full recipe)

Starting with Salt

The Joy of Kneading

Oven Enigmas

Smart Cleanup

Testing Your Sourdough

Scaling Your Sourdough

Smart Sourdough (Medium Loaf)

Smart Sourdough (Small Loaf)

Smart Sourdough (Double Large Loaf)

Smart Sourdough (Double Medium Loaf)

Smart Sourdough (Triple Medium Loaf)

Customizing Your Sourdough

Smart Sourdough (100% Whole Wheat)

Smart Sourdough (25% Whole Wheat)

Smart Sourdough (Less Sour)

Smart Sourdough (More Sour)

Smart Sourdough (San Francisco Style)

Smart Sourdough (Mark’s Loaf)

Diversifying Your Sourdough

Smart Rye Sourdough

Smart Buckwheat Sourdough

Smart Barley Sourdough

Smart Barley Pumpernickel

Smart Tomato Basil Sourdough

Smart Buckwheat Walnut Sourdough

Smart Mediterranean Sourdough

Smart Middle Eastern Sourdough

Smart Raisin Sourdough

Smart Chocolate Cherry Sourdough

Baking in the Round

Making Sourdough Bread Bowls

Grinding Your Own Flour

NutriMill Tips

Making Sourdough Pizza

Smart Sourdough Pizza Dough

Mark’s Sourdough Skillet Pizza

Making Sourdough Pancakes

Smart Sourdough No-Rise Pancakes

Smart Sourdough Malt Pancakes

Smart Sourdough Buckwheat Pancakes

Smart Sourdough Rice Pancakes

Smart Dosa

Mark’s Masala Dosa

Beyond Sourdough

Frequently Asked Questions

Sourdough vs. Salt-Rising

Index

Sample Text

Getting Started

If you’ve never made sourdough before, you’ll be surprised how simple it can be. And if you have made sourdough before, you may be even more surprised!

Most sourdough recipes lead you through days or even weeks of developing a starter before you can make your bread—and then into a lifetime of maintaining that starter. But this book is based on the belief that all that rigmarole is no longer needed. With modern methods of regulating temperature, and with the easy availability of (gasp!) baker’s yeast, honest-to-goodness naturally fermented sourdough bread can be made from start to finish in less than a day.

Let me explain. Though sourdough bakers often talk about collecting “wild yeast” in their starters, what they’re actually trying to collect is a combination of yeast and bacteria—a special kind called lactic acid bacteria, named after the main acid they give off.

If the name lactic acid sounds exotic or intimidating, it doesn’t have to. It’s what creates sourness or tang in sour cream, yogurt, and many other milk products—which is why it’s called lactic, or “related to milk.” It’s also the main source of sourness in pickles and sauerkraut whenever they’re naturally fermented instead of made with vinegar.

All those foods are produced with bacteria of the same family found in sourdough. And it’s these bacteria, rather than any kind of yeast, that make sourdough what it is.

In case you have any doubt about that, consider these advantages of making naturally fermented sourdough over making conventional yeast bread:

• Gives the bread a delicious sourness or tang.

• Weakens the gluten, making it easier to digest for people who might otherwise have trouble with it.

• Adds acids that slow the digestion of starches, for a lower glycemic index and improved blood sugar response.

• Reduces amounts of antinutrients like phytic acid and lectins, making nutrients in the flour more available to you.

• Resists spoilage in the baked bread and keeps it fresher longer.

Every one of these advantages is produced chiefly or entirely by the sourdough bacteria, not the sourdough yeast. And the one job that is chiefly handled by the sourdough yeast—making the bread rise—is done as well or better by baker’s yeast.

That being true, why worry about sourdough yeast at all? A good part of the labor of traditional sourdough is keeping the yeast going strong in a starter. In place of that, why not focus on nurturing the bacteria and just add a bit of baker’s yeast at the end? Not so strangely, that’s exactly how sourdough is made today in many commercial bakeries!

And there’s more. With yeast out of the equation, it turns out you can get flour to ferment very quickly, even from scratch. So quickly, in fact, you don’t need a starter at all. Just add water to whole grain flour, keep the mixture at a good temperature for a matter of hours, and occasionally add more flour. You’ll get sourdough every time.

With all the benefits of naturally fermented sourdough, it’s only the hassle of making it that has discouraged home bakers. Well, hassle no more. The age of smart sourdough has arrived.