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My first attempts at bread making started in 1978 when I was attending Leicester Polytechnic.  I was part way through a PGCE Art Education course when one of my fellow students, Joan Boyd, persuaded me to bake some of my own bread.  From then on I have never bought any bread, always preferring to make my own.  Until recently I mostly baked granary bread or white loaves but in 2014 I started making sourdough using my own starter.  I now make mostly sourdough and I recently used sourdough for the first time on my pizza bases - (July 2018).  A new bread baking book (bought in December 2016) inspired me to try out new recipes, techniques and different kinds of flour.  I am gradually improving and adding to my repertoire and posting the recipes and photographs to my website.  In August 2017 I started using the poolish pre-fermentation method, with remarkable results.  The bread is light and airy, plenty of spring and loads of flavour.  In June 2018 I started using a cloche for all my loaves.  These cost around £30 but are a great investment.  The bread, using the cloche, is remarkable!  In May 2018 I started using artisan rock salt in my bread.  At the moment I use: Persian blue rock salt, Alpine rock salt, Iberian rock salt, Himalayan pink salt and Pakistani rock salt (all, of course, with no additives).  In July 2018 I started using filtered water instead of bottled water (more environmentally friendly) in the main part of the recipe (I still use bottled water for the starter (essential) and in the poolish.  I have created 90 to 95% of the recipes, with the remaining adapted from elsewhere.  All the photographs have been taken by me.  I always use the best quality ingredients (Doves Farm Foods flour and Maud Foster Mill flour from Boston, Lincolnshire).  I use fresh baker's yeast (rather than dried), my sourdough starter or both. Try varying the quantities of your flour for a different textured loaf (in a rye bread maybe use more strong white flour). Try adding slightly more oil, less or none at all.  Try using more liquid (this makes the dough trickier to handle but produces a slightly better loaf).  Keep records and then if you hit on a real winner, you will be able to repeat it.  Try using bannetons for holding the shape of your loaves together, especially for a wettish dough.  I love bread baking with a passion and I can't wait to spend time in the kitchen making my next batch.  I adore the feel and smell of the ingredients and the taste of beautifully baked loaves, fresh from the oven!  Have a go at some of my recipes and you will soon appreciate the art of bread baking (it is not as difficult as you think).  My website has taken hundreds of hours to create, so I hope you feel that it has been time well spent!  Enjoy the recipes and I hope that you get as much out of this indulgence as I do.

Update 18 January 2020 - My baking procedure now is: 2 days before I need to bake I feed my starter twice a day.  On the 3rd day I start off my poolish at 7am.  In the evening at 7pm I make up 2 batches of sourdough.  At 9pm I place the dough in my bannetons and leave covered in a cold fridge overnight,  Next morning I take my dough out of the fridge and allow to rise further.  I now bake in the cloche (with the lid on) for 20 minutes @ 220°C, remove the lid and bake for a further 16 minutes.

Update 2 February 2019 - I now bake my loaves for longer - 20 minutes with the cloche lid on and 20 minutes with it removed @ 220°C.  The latest loaves have all used the poolish pre-ferment, no oil and 235g water. 

Update 22 January 2021 - San Francisco sourdough and Tartine sourdough are now two of my favourites.  I now usually bake  3 or 4 times a week.  Follow me on Twitter @sourdough2021

Update 26 September 2021 - I now use a cast iron Challenger bread pan and a proofer all the time.  I scald flour and now produce some of the best bread I have ever made.  Follow me on Twitter @sourdough2021 for up to date recipes and photos

Update 30 December 2022 - I have just started milling my own flour using a Mockmill 100.  The results are remarkable!  I have moved from the bird site and now post regularly on Mastodon @sourdough2021@mastodonapp.uk  Check it out for more up to date posts and comments.

Update: 4 December 2024 - Migrating to BlueSky - follow me @sourdough2021.bsky.social 

This year has been busy but I still have time to bake 4 loaves a week. The sourdough is now beautiful and some of the best I have produced (according to my wife!). Have a look at my more recent posts and techniques and keep up to date on Bluesky or Mastodon. There are new recipes, photos, information and advice appearing weekly. If you have not started sourdough baking yet, do try it, it is fun but be careful, it is addictive!

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