In this introductory Sourdough class you will learn artisanal bread-making techniques. This class focuses on the starter and a simple bread. You too, may come to love our local Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis and how it is made into San Francisco sourdough. Patricia will share her understanding of the makeup of sourdough bacteria and yeast to help explain fluctuations in a sourdough starter and how to develop a successful starter for natural leavening. She will discuss the fermentation process. In this first class of a 4 part series, you will learn the care and feeding of your sourdough, bread proofing baskets, and bread cooking cloches. Patricia will share her family history with sourdough. We will set and bake a simple sourdough bread. In the second class you will learn about the vital stages of the bread making process. We will demonstrate a stretch bread which is a slightly more complicated recipe. In the third class we will prepare breads with various heritage wheats. We will discuss the types of flour and their corresponding chemistries in dough formation. In the fourth class you will learn about starters made from various wheats, milling of wheat and breads made of heritage wheats. The bread made in this course will be easy to recreate. We will demonstrate a no-knead sourdough bread and and in later classes more advanced breads. We will discuss the science behind successful bread-making. A zoom meeting announcement will be emailed to you.