The Sourdough School: The Ground-Breaking Guide to Making Gut-Friendly Bread

This book has been in my life for many many years and I keep it around like a trusted best friend, even if just to see the beautiful photos or read the prose because I simply enjoy it so much. This book is jam-packed with knowledge but almost more importantly: wisdom. Wisdom about how to make sourdough of course, but also wisdom about being a more ethical person, being more conscientious about our impact on this earth and our connections to the farmers and millers, and the list goes on. It's a book about bread and a book about humanity too. Listen to what Vanessa says, you won't be disappointed. Her other books are just as influential and groundbreaking.

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.

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.

Excellent work for beginner and sourdough lovers alike. Lots of recipes and information.

This book is good, overall, but it was rather difficult to follow, especially as a new sourdough baker, due to its layout. If it were organized differently, it would be much better.

I particularly like the emphasis on healthful features of sourdough, as well as tips on how to refine soudough the process. This book has more details on those healthful aspects of sourdough than most books. Also, the book is well illustrated which means that I will continue to refer to it in my ongoing efforts to make better loaves, as well as gain confidence in technique. I believe the writing is quite good and clear and reveals the passion of the writer for sharing her knowledge. I was a little surprised that it came without a dust jacket, as I think dust jackets help sell books such as this. If I had not seen this book on a the coffee table of a friend who is a professional baker I might not have noticed it on a bookstore shelf.

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!

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.

This is a really beautiful book in terms of its appearance and something that I love to see on my bookshelf! The content is priceless, really valuable. It helped me to understand sourdough and how it all works and it has great formulae for various types of bread. I find, practically, that I tend to use the same formula all the time so you'd want to be more exciting than me to get the most out of this book...

This was recommended to me and I am so glad I made the purchase. Beautifully photographed and it really gets into the science behind the process. Highly recommended!

I strongly disagree with some of the negative reviews of the book. I bought it when it was first published and have bought numerous copies as gifts for friends. Three of my friends were really struggling to make good sourdough bread I gave them some of "Vaneesa's starter, a recipe and methods of how to make the dough. They are all delighted and making good bread. I know some people don't like the layout of the book however I wholeheartly disagree. I have yet to see another book that goes into such depth.It is broken down into a very well thought out layout. Firstly Vanessa explains what sourdough culture is in detail that is written so home bakers can understand the information. Secondly all ingredients are explained. There is really good information about starter and levain management. I was struggling to understand about how to manage the starter however Vanessa explains it simply and its easy to understand. It's made a Hugh difference to my sourdough bread.Thirdly Vanessa goes into great detail about the process of making the leavain and dough and the importance of desired dough temperature. The processes are accompanied by beautiful photographs Vanessa suggests planning a schedule to make your bread and keep a loaf record. There is a fantastic selection of different recipes starting at a basic loaf and building on it as your skills improve e.g. cheese and jalapeno, wild garlic boules ( great in spring time ), chocolate and hazelnut bread, beetroot and feta to name but a few. There is specific advice accompaning each recipe pertaining to the particular bread you are making Lastly there is a great discussion about digestibility and nutrition of the bread you make. Vanessa is inspirational enthusiastic and so knowledgeable. I have lots of bread books and there is no other book that goes into such detail. Its certainly a holistic approach to making sourdough bread.

El libro es muy didáctico y está muy bien organizado. Es el lugar idóneo para iniciar si quieres preparar masa madre. Se puede complementar muy bien con videos y otras referencias.

This book is a dream. Every recipe book should be the same: brings you to *understand* what is going on, what you are looking & smelling for. Each page makes you want to discover more and more ...