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

by Vanessa Kimbell

'Master the art of sourdough with Vanessa and you will learn how to look after your own gut microbes and health.' - Tim Spector, author of The Diet Myth At her renowned Sourdough School, Vanessa has taught countless students the secrets of this healthy, more easily digestible bread, and now she has compiled her teachings for the home baker. From creating your own starter from scratch, you'll then move on to basic breadmaking techniques, before progressing to using sprouted grains and experimenting with flavours to produce Fig and Earl Grey and Cherry Plum loaves. With step-by-step photography, detailed instructions, specialist advice and Vanessa's indispensable encouragement, The Sourdough School celebrates the timeless craft of artisan baking.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Health, Reference, Nutrition

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2018

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually rate cookbooks on Goodreads because I don't read them cover to cover, but I did this one. It is 2/3 informative about sourdough processes and 1/3 sourdough recipes.

This is an awesome book, if you have some experience with sourdough already. This is NOT a beginner sourdough book. It goes very technically into the kinds of microbes in sourdough, but then does little to show the reader how to shape a loaf. So it is a great book for someone who has experience with bread dough and sourdough previously, but I would look for something else if you are new to bread making or sourdough. It gave me some great ideas some excellent ideas on how to progress in my sourdough.

[Billie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t buy this book. It’s step by step process is extremely confusing. One minute it says to add one thing and then on the next page the thing you’ve added isn’t yet included and the progression pictures don’t correlate to the instructions given. The only thing this book has offered me is possible inclusions to my bread, like olives but the recipe doesn’t even suggest when to add these in to the prebaking steps. So the only thing I got from this is... olives!

[cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Descriptions of and motivations for each step of the sourdough baking process, complete with pretty bread photos (I am very swayed by these) and fun recipes.

[Andreea Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

2018 was the year of learning the theory.
2019 will definitely be the year of (more) practising making sourdough bread.

This is a very good guide for people , like myself, who want to learn to bake their own healthy sourdough bread. The book is packed with facts about nutrition, wheat, flour, techniques and steps easy to follow in order to achieve the desired loaf.

Vanessa Kimbell is an angel! (or I am slightly biased because I like her so much!)

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this cookbook cover to cover. It is not a very good cookbook. The information is good, but the author refers to terms and techniques that are relatively obscure without defining them first. She also jumps around the process of baking in an unhelpful way. I want to know step 1, 2, 3, etc. It was a very frustrating book to navigate. That said, I may refer to it in the future for the starter recipes with different resulting flavor profiles.

[Georg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent recipes and final products. Horribly laid out, very difficult to find recipes. Could use another edit.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

While this book has lots, and lots, of technical information about sourdough bread and related techniques...it is a book for those who are already confident about baking sourdough and want to tweak their technique. Frequently it reads as if the author is showcasing her, considerable, knowledge rather than trying to pass it on. The overly detailed and repetitive instructions lack definition and order. The usage of the terms 'ambient' and 'retardant' is downright irritating and needlessly complicated! More editing and clearer presentation would really help to transmit this author's knowledge.

[Kender Prejean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book thinking I could quickly learn how to make a sourdough loaf, but ended up learning so much more! The author goes into detail about the intricacies of the makeup and process of sourdough. A highlight from my learning was how sourdough is so much more easily digestible for our bodies than other breads due to the fermentation process. It was also very eye opening how the origination of the grains used to create your starter can impact your bakes and the digestibility of them.

It’s one of those books that I feel like you need to read a few times before fulling grasping all of the information. So I’m returning it to the library for the next reader and will likely pick it up again in the future.

I sadly have yet to make a loaf because I’m incredibly intimidated, but my starter has been alive and well for a few months now, so huge success ⭐️ Next up is a loaf 🤝

[Bonnie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little more technical than I would have liked and it was sometimes hard to follow along with the instructions. That being said, I loved learning about the science behind sourdough and the microbiome.

[Sean McQuay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable book on why good bread (specifically sourdough) is so good for us and how to make great bread. There were a few distracting typos in the first couple chapters but overall well made book. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but I like the flexible formula approach as opposed to a strict recipe

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not a beginner sourdough book, but I enjoyed the technical information and look forward to trying the recipes and tips to improve my baking skills.

[Elisabetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is well structured and give good basics on sourdough baking and different types of sourdough. Nice recipes at the end of the book.

[Eman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't understand how people have called this book "the bible of sourdough baking" because it's not. It's very confusing, some(important) parts are rushed through while others (not so important in getting you started with sourdough baking) are described ad nauseum. It seems that no one proof-read the book before it was published either. Calling it the Sourdough School is appropriate because like an actual school it's long and you finish it without learning much.
I was very excited when i bought it. However, reading it was a big disappointment.

[BoB Lever · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay. I think I’m left with more questions than answers after reading it though. I’m not sure if there was pro bakery vs home baker translation problem or maybe it was a British vs American translation issue or both!

The recipes (formulas) look great. Vanessa references her website several times for more info, but the entire website requires paid for access. Maybe the book is a big commercial for her website.

After figuring out a few things I didn’t feel were explained in this book I hope to try my hand at some sourdough breads.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've got mixed feelings about this book. There's a lot of really good information about sourdough - its benefits, how to troubleshoot bread and starter alike, that sort of thing. However, I found the language confusing - it seems to refer to "starters" in two different ways, without really making clear which one they mean. I ended up watching a rather helpful YouTube video, which clarified the bread-making process considerably.

[Noreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly technical, measure water in grams- annoying

[Andra · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books for any aspiring sourdough baker out there. Vanessa teaches all the hows, whys, whens and whatnots for developing great bread every time.

[Ana Brbic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book on sourdough combines the craft with the science behind sourdough. It is not really for a beginner baker, but rather someone who has some experience in baking sourdough or long experience in baking bread. I found the science content fascinating, although I could see it being inaccessible for someone without a background in microbiology or (bio)chemistry. Fortunately I do have a science background so that didn't apply to me, but I could see this being a barrier to many.

The recipes barring the basic beginner breads involve complex flavours and ingredients which quite frankly are either not easily acquired or pretentious (butterfly pea tea? Koji rice?), so it's unlikely that I'll try making them despite the fact that they sound delicious. The instructions in the book rely a lot on feeling and reading the dough, which is why I don't consider this to be a beginner's guide. The suggested timelines presented in the book were confusing and could have been structured in a more intuitive way.

All in all, I found this to be a good book but not something I would turn to for every day sourdough baking.

[Evelyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wat zijn de gronden om sterren toe te kennen aan een kookboek? Nou, in ieder geval de mate waarin het je helpt met zekerheid iets eetbaars op tafel te zetten. Kimbell probeert je vooral zelf te laten nadenken en op je intuïtie te vertrouwen bij het bakken van zuurdesembroden. Dat waardeer ik wel en ik begrijp het ook. Maar daarmee slaat ze de nog wankele bakzekerheid uit mijn handen. Want moet je er nou eerst zout bijdoen voor je het deeg een eau de bassinage geeft? En dat waterbad, waarom lukt het me niet om al het water toe te voegen zonder er waterballet van te maken? Aan dr andere kant: dit boek ga ik zeker van de plank pakken voor kleine desemuitdagingen als ik eraan toe ben. Maar eerst terug naar het eenvoudigere recept dat ik op YouTube vond. Nieuwe media!
Verder erger ik me aan de sloppy science die gebruikt wordt om te onderbouwen waarom zuurdesem beter te verdragen is dan gewoon brood, maar goed, ik heb andere redenen om me tot zuurdesem te wenden (zelfmaakmagie).

[Heatherjoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started making sourdough when my body rebelled against non-fermented wheat, among other limitations. This book was my first attempt to expand my understanding and skill beyond the basic loaf I’ve been making. It was fantastic for information about digestibility and choosing quality ingredients. It was somewhat helpful for understanding the process of baking. I will try a few of the recipes in the book (formulas as the author calls them). Where it struggles is in providing too much complexity for your average baker/tapped out mom of three. The other half of the recipes I won’t try aren’t because they sound bad but because they are far too complicated if you aren’t a professional. So I’m glad a read this book. I’ll copy a few pages out of it. But I don’t feel a need to add it to my shelf (thanks library for making that possible).

[Juliana Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las recetas no son faciles de seguir

Pros: explica varios tipos de procesos, el porque y los tips, tiene una forma facil de explicar y resuelve muchas inquietudes que una persona que ya haya hecho panes se masa madre pueda tener.
Cons: las recetas estan divididas entre formulas y procesos, para hacer una receta toca practicamente escribirla recolectando informacion por todo el libro lo cual lo hace dificil de seguir.
Hubiera sido buena que un par de recetas estuvieran completas, por lo menos una con cada proceso y metodo diferente porque al estar divididas quedan muchas cosas al aire, sobretodo las recetas mas complejas.
Recomiendo el libro a personas que ya tengan experiencia en masa madre, que quieran saber un poco mas de teoria y tener recetas mas complejas.

[Attila Szabó · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of great information in this book for people who are just beginning to explore the world of sourdough bread baking. My only issue is with the recipes. If you follow the recipes in this book, you will quickly discover, that a 80% hydration dough requires a lot of dough handling experience (month, or years even). This could easily discourage beginners, who will think it is their fault that their bread turned out flat. The book even has a section about the reasons why a bread could be flat after baking, but it never mentions hydration levels. Even though it really is a great book with lots of useful information, I still had to look up on the internet what was the problem with my bread baking process.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very hesitantly entering the world of homemade sourdough, and this book was both very helpful and also stressed me out. It explains each part of the process, and goes deeply into the science of what's going on inside that starter and dough, but all the info isn't really written in a super friendly or accessible way, and maybe goes TOO deep for the average person who just wants to get a loaf baked and tinker with the process later. So, what I did was take a beginner workshop, to get the hang of the process, and now I find myself returning to this book to refine that process and dip into more and more information, the more that I actually understand what I'm doing. So it's an excellent textbook, but really only for the hardcore bread-maker.

[Nette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good but jumps around

The book is very informative and a great introduction to artisan bread baking. However, the way the kindle book is formatted is very confusing and jumps around. The formula for making a leaven does not coincide with the measurements for the formulas which is confusing and not helpful for a beginner baker. For example, it gives a formula for making the levain which equals 215g and in the formula for making bread it calls for 225g of levain. It would be very helpful to separate the teaching part of the book from the recipes and technique so as not to confuse the steps. Overall it has good information but unfortunately the formatting is confusing and jumps around too much which is overwhelming

[Zach Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author actually seems to know a bit about the chemistry that goes on in making sourdough, which I really appreciated! Small science issue though, the author says that yeast are single-celled, but they’re actually eukaryotic!

Either way, I think some of the recipes take very specific types of flour. I’m sure they’re easy enough to buy nowadays, in some capacities, but also hinders the ability to make some of the recipes. This is similar with the author kinda insinuating you need a good amount of equipment just to get started, like a Dutch oven which are pretty expensive, kinda intimidating you from getting started with a “bare minimum.” It’s not that big of a deal but something to consider. It’s definitely very informative and I’m gonna start making a recipe or two from it!!

[Lucija · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one from cover to cover and even though I did enjoy it, I also found it very confusing.
It is very clear that the process of making a sourdough is very complicated and multi-layered, but while reading this book, I was even more confused at moments, and honestly, It was probably just because of the lacking of a proper book edit.
The flow is what confuses me the most - I kept going back and forth between pages to collect information about one particular step, just because the choice of words wasn't consistent.

I generally think Vanessa has amazing experience that should be showcased and shared, but it needs a bit more editing...

[Alison Clague · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have used Vanessa Kimbell’s basic sourdough recipe (which used to be available on her website) and had excellent results. I wanted to get back to making sourdough so bought this to find out more about the process and have a reference book to hand.

The book is beautifully illustrated with inspirational photographs and Vanessa obviously has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Unfortunately the book is at times confusing and seems to have contradictions within it that add to this.

I agree with other reviewers that this isn’t ideal for beginners.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an intermediate but green sourdough baker thirsty for more information, I loved every part of this book: the history, nutritional information, recipes and the beautiful layout.
It lost a half-star for me because in some instructions she gives, the author contradicts herself and is vague about critical elements of the process, like adding water incrementally to achieve a bigger crumb.
This will be my sourdough Rosetta Stone, along with the course I took at my local, radical, sourdough bakery: Eadha Bread.

[Damian Howison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a beginner, but still a novice. This was not the book I was after. It is an inspiring book but I expect it will be much more useful later on. The techniques are described in detail but not with clarity. I get that the author encourages one to be attentive to the ingredients, dough, and environment, but, details fundamental to the novice are missing and instructions are sometimes confusing. It could be a great book with much better editing.

[Petros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга об основах хлеба на закваске, о влиянии его на здоровье. На данный момент для меня это лучшая книга о хлебопечении. Рецепты приведены с учётом усвоенных ранее правил ведения стартера и закваски. Книга учит принципам, самостоятельному пониманию составления рецептов хлебобулочных изделий.
Есть неточности при указании температур в главах о стартере и закваске, но их можно понять и скорректировать самостоятельно, логически. Не стал снижать за это оценку.