On the First Day of December

I learned how to make a starter for making bread! I took a bread workshop at La Victoria Bakery in the Mission District in San Francisco tonight. 

We used yeast, organic flour, and water to make the starter. Mike from Sour Flour was an inspiring person to learn from. He made me want to take up a profession in baking. We took advantage of this class through Groupon. 

We learned about the 5 factors that will affect the starter: time, temperature, hydration, ratio and food.

 The biggest thing I noticed is that we assume you need to really beat your dough when kneading-and that's not the case at all. Its more like massaging the dough, giving it a break to rise, and then repeating. It was a very relaxing process.

 Its a good thing I didn't eat too much before hand. We got to eat some of the bread we made and then compared it with bread that was made with the same starter but had risen for two days. The older dough was more flavorful since the yeast had a chance to grow.

 I'd highly recommend taking a class like this! Bring some water since it gets hot in the kitchen.