Ed Wood (2) (1926–)

There is not a lot of text in this book, and a lot of recipes. I was pleased that it does cover the classic sourdoughs described in World Sourdoughs from Antiquity. Thus you get the interesting background without needing to buy the older book.

This year I neglected my Original San Francisco sourdough start so much that it became time to buy a new start. In activating it, I got out this book to learn what it has to say about activating a start. It was similar to what came with the new start, show more but had enough additional information to be worth pulling it out. While I had it out, I went ahead and read the rest of the book.

I often recommend Ed Wood to people when they have questions about sourdough because he is very clear about what matters, and what is not classic sourdough.

One part that explained a milk allergy that a daughter has, but only some batches of milk was on page 9, "Work on milk fermentation has identified a group of factors that inhibit the growth of starter bacteria in the production of cheese and yogurt. These include antibiotics present in the milk of cows that have been treated to prevent udder infections and in sanitizers used in cleaning milking machines. These findings point out the importance of never adding anything to your sourdough culture except flour and water. Further, if you experience inconsistent results with recipes calling for milk, inhibitors of this type may be involved." This caution is reiterated in different words on page 23-24.

"As you embark on your work with sourdoughs, you'll experience both success and frustration. Just remember that there is more art (thank goodness) than science in baking as our ancestors did, and the artist learns by doing. But don't forget why you're here. sourdoughs are for fun and personal satisfaction." (Page 25)

My experience with sourdough has been positively delightful. When we are to have sourdough bread, I am delighted to make it.

Review updated 2023-11-14
I make the bread for our family, and am getting back into making sourdough bread, so pulled the Ed Wood sourdough books out to find cultures that are suitable for use in a bread machine. I was lucky in the past because most of the cultures described in World Sourdoughs from Antiquity: Authentic recipes for modern bakers are not, and the three cultures I have now require 2-3 hours in a proofing oven. show less

This is a timeless book with stories about how he obtained some of the sourdough cultures that are available from Sourdough International. Delightful reading. On the minus side it is printed on cheap paper, and over half of the book is just recipes.

(My edition is 1996)
The website for buying the classic cultures described here is: https://sourdo.com/

I was grateful to find a book on this interesting topic, but I am so frustrated with it that I have developed step-by-step instructions for myself from its long, narrative, in-depth discussions. For complicated issues one wants clear instructions, not paragraphs of narrative! I have twice bought starter from the company but up until now I have been so intimidated by the complication of it all that I haven't yet launched my soughdough project. I'm hoping to overcome that by adapting and show more following my own instructions. If I succeed it will be in spite of the book! show less

Sourdoughs are never going to be easy to make, and are always time consuming. A great book, though, with plenty to get stuck into. Just make sure you have lots of fridge space for the starters!