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

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.

If you are seriously interested in learning how to make good sourdough then this is a book for you. I’m a relative newcomer to making sourdough and until recently I based my bakes around information from a couple of books penned by celebrity bakers (who I wont name) who I felt would know best. The results that I got were mediocre, but at the same time better than my earliest attempts.Vanessa Kimbell’s book has changed all of that. It made me realise that making sourdough isn’t just an art, but also a science. She includes a lot of information that I found useful on flours, starters, leaven, nutrition etc as well as taking you through the process of producing sourdough bread. There are also recipes.I see some reviews have been critical of the book saying its complicated and not easy to follow. I have to disagree - if you follow the advice on the page entitled ‘How to use this book’, then its not complicated at all.Having read the book, I went back to basics and adopted Kimbell’s techniques. The resulting sourdough has been the best I’ve ever made.So - if you’re simply looking for a book of sourdough recipes then maybe this book isn’t for you. There are plenty of alternatives out there. However, if you’re looking to learn technique and understand the science behind making good sourdough, then this is the book will not disappoint.

I bought this book as a beginner. At first I found it very confusing and had to keep flicking back between the master method and recipes, with dough splattered hands. Now I've got to grips with the techniques & I've been using the book for several months, my bread is turning out really well. All the information & advice is there, the layout just needs updating & perhaps use a new editorial team, to make it all less confusing for beginners and remove the odd bits of conflicting information in the book. Having said all that, I love all the recipes & the science & now I understand it better, it's my 'go to' book for sourdough.

I bought this as a present for my spouse, who has taken up baking sourdough as a hobby. The author, Vanessa Kimbell, has just completed her PhD in this field, and writes with enthusiasm, clarity and expertise. My spouse (also a PhD) loved this book because of the clarity of expression of concepts and the depth of relevant detail which is often overlooked by other authors. Anyone with an interest in sourdough should buy this book as it is the only reference they would need. Recommended.

To begin with, I bought this book because I wanted to build my sourdough starter and kept failing. With Vanessa's instructions it worked from day one and felt like a very straightforward and fun process. As I am typing this my starter is almost a year old and thriving happily.The bread baking process was an emotional journey... It definitely took time for me. Not because the book isn't good enough - it's simply impossible to learn all the techniques by reading. You need to see the process at least once. So I did. I found a couple of bakers on social media, watched them, listened to their advice and then combined those tips with the book and wow, I started getting beautiful loaves every time! It is like a mediation for me nowadays.The book is packed with information on sourdough, grains, gut health, tips and gorgeous, gorgeous photography. And I adore how passionate Vanessa is about the subject and, in a way, taking us back to the roots, cultural history, appreciation of proper flavours and real food. We need more people like her out there.I've now got her other book, too. Cannot wait to start baking something sweet.

Bought as a beginner's book, I got it on Kindle as the hard copy is expensive. That makes it a little tricky to keep flipping back and forth - there seem to be so many choices to make, eg if you want this kind of loaf do that, see page ...I just wanted to get going and try a simple loaf, I'd bought a starter and fancy flour, but I had to wade through all kinds of info that made it seem like a military operation or a Phd student handbook. You seem to have to plan several days ahead!I'm about to bake my first attempt but it's not looking hopeful. I'll stick to online recipes and videos for now.

Bought it for my husband for Christmas. It’s a beautiful and informative book with a good amount of recipes and info about the sourdough process.

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.

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.

La claridad, el detalle a la hora de explicar los distintos procesos es sin duda el punto fuerte del libro

When I was reading the reviews, I was confused by the mixed reviews. On one hand, some great reviews, on the other - bad reviews, suggesting this is a difficult book to use.After reading it, I have to say it is an excellent book - but only if you wish to LEARN about sourdough. after you finish reading it, you can easily cook with it, but it is absolutely not a traditional cookbook, where you open a page and cook a recipe. The entire idea behind the book is to educate us, the readers, on the process itself, allowing one to create his one way, in means of learning, practicing, trial and error.If you get the book with that state of mind, it could easily be the best basic book you own. If you expect 'go to' recipes and easy job following them... it' snot the book for you.Highly recommended to the amateur (+++) baker.