I can hold exactly one baking ratio in my head, and I learned it from a stranger on the internet while covered in flour.

I have killed four sourdough starters. I have read books with graphs in them. What finally got a decent loaf out of my oven was this short video and its one idea: one part starter, two parts water, three parts flour.

Why a ratio beats a recipe

A recipe wants you to have a scale, a thermometer and a free Saturday. A ratio only wants a cup. I can do it half asleep, with the radio on, in somebody else’s kitchen. It scales up for guests and down for one person without any arithmetic beyond counting to three.

How I make it on a weeknight

My own version, which is not the only way and probably not the best one.

  1. Stir together 1 cup of active starter and 2 cups of water.
  2. Add 3 cups of bread flour and a generous teaspoon of salt, and mix until shaggy.
  3. Fold it over itself a few times in the first hour, then leave it alone overnight.
  4. Shape it gently, let it rest in a floured bowl, and bake in a hot lidded pot.
A clear glass jar on a gray table
The starter lives here now. It has a name, which I will not be sharing.

What goes wrong

  • Too flat: it needed longer, or the kitchen was cold.
  • Too sour: it needed less time, or more feeding.
  • Too dense: I was impatient. I am usually impatient.
  • Burnt underneath: the pot was on the bottom shelf again.

It is rarely the same loaf twice. I have stopped thinking of that as a fault.

None of my loaves would win anything. They are slightly lopsided and they taste of something, and on a Tuesday in October that is as much as I ask of bread.

Video: Jenny's European Bakery on YouTube. Embedded here, not made by me.

Sample content for The Pixel, a fictional personal blog.