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Everyone romanticizes sourdough starter, but my neighbor's advice at the block party in Akron actually made me worse at baking
Honestly, everyone keeps pushing this idea that you need a living starter you feed every day like a pet, and I think that's the worst advice for a beginner. At our street party in Akron last month, my neighbor Barb leaned over my rye loaf, poked it, and told me my crumb was "too open and not in a good way" and that I should chuck my starter in the trash and just buy a jar of yeast. I tried to defend it, said the starter was 4 months old and I named it, and she just shrugged and walked off to the cooler. Here's the thing though, her rude comment bugged me for days, but then I realized she wasn't totally off base for my skill level. I was so busy babying that jar that I never actually practiced shaping or scoring, and my loaves kept coming out flat and gummy. So I disagree with the starter worship crowd, not because Barb was right to be snarky, but because nobody tells new bakers to just focus on their hands first. Anyone else get torn down at a party and end up weirdly grateful for it?
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