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Simple Sourdough: Make Your Own Starter Without Store-Bought Yeast and Bake the Best Bread in the World With This Simplest of Recipes for Making Sourdough (or Sour Dough)
 
 
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Simple Sourdough: Make Your Own Starter Without Store-Bought Yeast and Bake the Best Bread in the World With This Simplest of Recipes for Making Sourdough (or Sour Dough) [Paperback]

Mark Shepard (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)


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Book Description

April 9, 2008
 
**********"SIMPLE SOURDOUGH" HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE. PLEASE WAIT FOR THE UPDATE!**********
 
This booklet tells how to make the best bread in the world. And it's made from only wheat, water, and salt! You'll love this tasty, wholesome, easy-to-make bread from a tradition thousands of years old. In fact, it may spoil you for all other bread! 
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
Mark Shepard is the author of several books on simple living and nonviolent social change, and also on the flute.
 


Editorial Reviews

From the Author

 
CONTENTS
 
The Starter
The Ingredients
The Sponge
The Two Things You Must Always Remember
The Dough
The Rising
The Baking
Final Facts
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
 
I first learned to love this bread while visiting the Community of the Ark, a utopian society founded in France by an Italian disciple of Gandhi. On my return home, a friend taught me how to make the same bread -- or pretty close. Some further experimenting ended up with the method in this booklet. If you've made other breads, you'll find it refreshingly simple. No matter how much of this bread I've eaten, I've never grown tired of it.
 

About the Author

See above.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 24 pages
  • Publisher: Simple Productions (April 9, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0938497308
  • ISBN-13: 978-0938497301
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Shepard is the author of books on the flute, peace and nonviolence, and simple living. He lives in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 59 people found the following review helpful
"The Theory of Sourdough" April 12, 2006
Format:Paperback
WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT

This book is a printed edition of what had previously been an electronic book (PDF) sold here on Amazon. This is a very short book, for a very low price. It contains all the information you need to start making sourdough bread TODAY. You do not need to purchase yeast or sourdough starter. You can add many additional ingredients for taste & texture, but you can get by with flour & water alone if you wish.

This is NOT a cookbook, in the sense that you will not find dosens of recipes here. You will find only one recipe and the author will present you with several (simple) variations on it. There are many books on making sourdough breads that come with dosens of recipes. If you feel this is what you need -- skip this one. I didn't and I'm very happy I got it. Read on...

WHY I LIKE IT

Rather than merely listing recipes, this book TEACHES you all you need to understand about sourdough. You could say, "the theory of sourdough". It explains in great detail what is dough, why dough rises, what are yeast, what kinds of flour exist and how to pick the ones you want, what is sourdough, how a crust is formed, etc. If you read this book, you will actually learn a few things, rather than have some mindless recipes to follow. Once you understand this ONE SINGLE

recipe, you will be able to improvise and invent and modify it to create countless delicious variations. All on your own, all without any additional help.

This book will make you independent:

- You only need four and water and salt. You don't need to buy yeast or sourdough starters. Ever.

- The recipe works. Period. I've made my third batch last week, and the results are getting more and more delicious with each try. I've been making some variations on the basic recipe from day one, and it's been wonderful.

- You do not need to measure or weigh ANYTHING: Not flour, not water, not sponge -- NOTHING. The book will show you how to use textures to figure out what's missing and with experience, nothing will be missing

-- you'll be cooking like your great-grandmother probably did -- with your own intuition.

- There's no real substitute for understanding. Luckily, there's not much to understand: Reading 9 pages is something you can do in a matter of minutes. Personally, I'd much rather have a book with one recipe, that would show me how to create countless others, than have a book with basically a long list of recipes and no principles to guide me. This book is one of the shortest routes to making sourdough breads -- get it and you'll love the results!

- If you enjoy making bread, if you're health conscious, if you want specialty breads (e.g., low-salt, low-sugar, etc), and are willing to experiment a bit, then this is a real fun book to have. Also, specialty breads are not cheap in the US: FOR SPECIALTY BREADS, THIS BOOK WILL PAY FOR ITSELF IN AFTER ABOUT THE SECOND LOAF.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
WHAT IS THIS BOOK

First off, you should understand what you're buying: You're buying a PDF file that can be viewed in Acrobat, printed, etc. It will take several hours for your order to go through (why, Amazon??) and you will be sent an email with a download link. The document, this file, is 12 pages long. A total of 3 pages in this book will have nothing to do with making sourdough bread (cover, about the author, etc), so in fact, you're paying $ for 9 pages of information. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't buy the book -- it just means that this is a very small book (at a very low price), and that you should be aware of this up front so that you're not disappointed. Of these 9 pages, there is quite a bit of fluff (and I don't mean dough); I think these 9 pages could have easily fit in 5.

WHAT IS THIS BOOK NOT

This is NOT a cookbook, in the sense that you will not find dosens of recipes here. You will find only one recipe and the author will present you with several (simple) variations on it. There are many books on making sourdough breads that come with dosens of recipes. If you feel this is what you need -- skip this one. I didn't and I'm very happy I got it. Read on...

WHY I LIKE IT

Rather than merely listing recipes, this book TEACHES you all you need to understand about sourdough. You could say, "the theory of sourdough". It explains in great detail what is dough, why dough rises, what are yeast, what kinds of flour exist and how to pick the ones you want, what is sourdough, how a crust is formed, etc. If you read this book, you will actually learn a few things, rather than have some mindless recipes to follow. Once you understand this ONE SINGLE recipe, you will be able to improvise and invent and modify it to create countless delicious variations. All on your own, all without any additional help.

This book will make you independent:

- You only need four and water and salt. You don't need to buy yeast or sourdough starters. Ever.

- The recipe works. Period. I've made my third batch last week, and the results are getting more and more delicious with each try. I've been making some variations on the basic recipe from day one, and it's been wonderful.

- You do not need to measure or weigh ANYTHING: Not flour, not water, not sponge -- NOTHING. The book will show you how to use textures to figure out what's missing and with experience, nothing will be missing -- you'll be cooking like your great-grandmother probably did -- with your own intuition.

- There's no real substitute for understanding. Luckily, there's not much to understand: Reading 9 pages is something you can do in a matter of minutes. Personally, I'd much rather have a book with one recipe, that would show me how to create countless others, than have a book with basically a long list of recipes and no principles to guide me. This book is one of the shortest routes to making sourdough breads -- get it and you'll love the results!

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
It really is simple! January 29, 2006
Format:Paperback
If you want to make naturally leaven bread with wild yeast you can make in your kitchen, Simple Sourdough is the essay to read. I love the idea of making something from nothing, and the concepts I gleaned from this booklet grounded me in the basics of sourdough bread making.

My whole-wheat starter (as described in this book) is bubblier and more active than a starter I tried to cultivate with store bought dry active yeast! It takes much patience to make this work, but it's well worth the effort. I make the tastiest bread, for little cost or trouble, and my family loves the results.

Simple Sourdough is not a book of recipes; it's pages filled with a concept to sourdough bread making that can be expounded on with a cook's initiative and imagination. I would recommend this booklet to anyone who wants to make sourdough simply for years of enjoyment.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
For those who don't like following recipes
I have one criticism: at the end of the book, the author claims the bread can last up to 3 weeks; we have never managed more than 2 days! Read more
Published 3 months ago by E.G. CALLCUT
sourdough?
This bread is a long process but making the starter with flour and water actually works. I was excited about the simplicity of it all, even though it took a long time to make... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Emma Simmons
Tiny, tiny little pamphlet
I was shocked when I saw what I paid so much for. The only thing it has going for it is the recipies and darned few of them! Buyer beware!!
Published 6 months ago by Judi T
Great Pamphlet for sourdough
This is a great way for a novice who wants to try making sourdough for the first time. Even those of us with a lot of bread making practise it has lots of good tips in it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by LKimmel
Simple book... can't wait to try!
This is a simple little booklet that I bought because I needed just a few more dollars so I could get free Super-saver shipping! Read more
Published 13 months ago by D. Fuchs
Below Expectations
Simple sourdough is simply an overstatement. One single recipe and the random musings of a bread maker barely filling the pages, unless you count enlarged, bold print. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Timothy Wittman
THE BEST SOURDOUGH BOOK
i have read numerous books on how to make sourdough bread and this book shares the most
straightforward instruction. it take the mystery and fear out. Read more
Published 21 months ago by RED SPOT
Good Basics
Just the facts about sourdough. Good to get a foundation in this aspect of baking.
Published on May 19, 2010 by KernelGreen
Simple Sourdough
If you are into SourDough, this book is for you. So many good recipes and many that you may tweek, just for your own family. It is well worth the price.
Published on November 24, 2009 by mavis j.hintermeister
One recipe booklet
This is a little tiny booklet with one recipe for sourdough. It is too basic for most and I doubt it will help you decide to try sourdough. Read more
Published on June 29, 2009 by J. Bloomer
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