The History of Jan's Dough

Even if you've never baked bread before, I can teach you how to make the most delicious sourdough bread. You don't need a fancy (or expensive!) bread machine, and you don't need exotic kitchen tools. In fact, you don't have to know anything more than how to use a measuring cup. Baking bread is just about as fundamental as this country. Men and women (and even young boys and girls) baked bread to sustain themselves, their families, and to provide a living for themselves. Bread has been baked by an open hearth, in a brick oven, in outdoor kiln ovens, and even in skillets over an open fire. Bread is part of most everyone's daily culture. Baking bread is a time-honored process---and if done as such, baking can be a stress-relieving and self-satisfying task.

I got my first cup of sourdough starter in 1990 from a gal I met while I was living in California. With the starter came a recipe for sourdough bread that had been handed down through her family for several generations---right along with the starter. Her starter traced back to a pioneer ancestor who traveled from the East to Colorado in a covered wagon.

Up until I received that first cup of starter and a much-copied recipe on a half-sheet of paper, I'd never baked a single thing that called for yeast or for dough to rise. Once I had the starter and learned its rich history, however, I felt obliged to try. This starter had come a long way, and I wasn't about it let it "die." Luckily for me, another friend gave me a good hands-on lessons and I produced my first-ever loaf of bread without any trouble at all. It wasn't obligation or pity that made us eat that first loaf---it was delicious! I looked at my two hands (which is the only "bread machine" I've ever owned) and marveled that I'd produced a food product of that quality.

My husband took a new job in 1993 and we traveled around the country on his short-term work assignments for more than seven years. I took my starter with me, feeding it in campgrounds and motels along the way as we traveled to our next destination, and then once there I started baking bread with just a minimum of kitchen tools. We've now permanently settled in Florida and my starter, which now traces its own unique history, sits in its original crock jar in the refrigerator. (Part of that "unique history" of my starter is that in all those moves, and in all those locales, I never broke the crock. It sits in my refrigerator still.)

My sourdough starter is a little different from most you'll find as it uses milk instead of water and includes sugar. This makes for a slightly sweeter, firmer bread. I've discovered ways to make this bread a little zestier, but I do have to be honest here that this starter does not make a traditional "San Francisco Sourdough" bread. However, the bread it does make is wonderful and it is a fine compliment to soups, stews, and pasta...and makes the best toast you'll ever spread jelly on!

It's a tradition to share your starter with a friend who has none, but a sloppy, gooey mix of flour and milk doesn't fit well in an envelope, so I'll have to help you while you "grow your own." I provide the recipes for creating your SOURDOUGH STARTER and baking BASIC SOURDOUGH BREAD that come with instructions are written in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format. As an additional source of help, I also provide a fully illustrated, day-by-day tutorial for creating the starter, as well as a fully illustrated guide for how to bake bread (which includes illustrations for kneading bread). I even offer a down-to-earth tip about how to get your bread dough to rise! However, you might just have a question or two, and I'm always glad to answer them, if I can. A "Contact Jan" link is provided at the end of this page, as well as on my home page.

My recipes use the TRADITIONAL method of making bread---all made by hand with no kitchen appliances or bread machines. My recipe for Basic Sourdough Bread is based on the recipe that came across America in a covered wagon with the original batch of starter. If "getting back to basics" appeals to you and making bread by hand sounds ideal, then this is the recipe you've been looking for. If not, I invite you to make my starter and then experiment with your favorite bread recipes (even those for bread machines).

So, are you ready to learn how to bake bread? I know you're gonna love it! And you're gonna love the way it makes your kitchen smell! The aroma of freshly baked bread will fill the kitchen and you won't be able to resist tearing a chunk off the first loaf out of the oven and slathering it with butter...I always do...

Good Luck and Happy Baking!