I recently came across the quote “Happiness is the smell of freshly baked bread” on the internet. Then I realized that of all the breads I bake, this quote is particularly true for me when it comes to sourdough bread.
As I have shared in my past blogs, the process of sourdough breadmaking is more elaborate compared with the process applied on breads that make use of commercial yeast. In sourdough breadmaking, the baker develops a sense of fondness for and attachment to the experience. The process that covers regular feeding of the sourdough starter, preparation of the levain, folding and resting, bulk rising, cold fermentation, scoring, and [finally] baking is somewhat a kind of delicate relationship that the baker nourishes in anticipation of the end result. That is, a sourdough bread that is always unique. The saying that no two breads come out exactly the same is actually not an overstatement.
Since my [main] oven broke down more than a month ago, I had not been able to bake sourdough bread. It was because, as a home baker, I mostly did so using a Dutch oven (cast iron pan). As such, I had no choice but to put aside sourdough breadmaking for a while. However, I missed it a lot! Thus, I finally decided to try baking in the mini oven using a Pyrex dish; the same dish I used in my first attempts at sourdough breadmaking. Surprisingly, it worked and I almost could not spot the difference!
I am starting to like my mini oven now! Although I can only bake in small batches, it is relatively easy to use and pre-heating is a breeze. I still wish to have my [main] oven fixed or, perhaps, replaced in the future so that I can go back to using the cast iron pan for my sourdough bread.
Here are the last batches of sourdough bread I baked using my cast iron pan.
[baked using the cast iron pan in the (main) oven]
I gave as a gift to a friend.
One more happy thought, too — my sourdough starter will be turning a year old soon. Recently, I thought it was going to die due to some neglect. I was relieved it did not. Rather, it is still very much alive and kicking to this day. Cheers to more freshly baked sourdough bread whose smell never fails to bring happiness! <3
