Genuinely, folks, this is a good skill to have. It takes like 10 minutes of active time over 12 hours for me to make 3 loaves at once. Sourdough crackers are a bit more labor intensive but they are a killer snack and the price of ingredients can’t be beat.

But the man hours include the time you're not making it, surely? Because you're having to weave your world around it. I can make a delicious yeasted bread in a morning, whilst doing a bit of other stuff, and that it, I can go out! To say nothing of 'feeding the bitch' as Bourdain put it!

I did it religiously during the panny, then my wife went gluten free and I couldn't justify eating the whole loaf myself so I stopped (starter is dried and stored). We're divorced now so I might start up again in my new place but I am also like 5 min walk from one of the best bakeries in America.

Or if you don't think you have that in you, just go to Goodwill and get one of the 17 bread machines they are trying to get rid of.

I was baking bread regularly for a while, but it's just the two of us and we just couldn't get through it fast enough. Only so much fresh bread I can eat before it goes stale!

I’m not much of a pancake fan but sourdough pancakes are excellent

also, people appreciate a loaf of bread as a gift!

Yup. I almost always bring focaccia to dinners, <5 min active time, and it's just amazing. I'll bake a dessert focaccia during dinner... Can't miss.

Ok. I'm in Ireland and I have made pizza crust now, so perhaps I could try sourdough bread. So let's say I order a starter. What do I do then? In particular, how do I keep it alive so I can make bread periodically? Please assume I'm really ignorant. 😄

Started during the pandemic and it’s so wonderful. Also doing the Finnish spurdough bread of 100% rye is especially easy, because there’s zero kneading involved. But oh so good!

So many people make sourdough sound lines it’s all about the loaves, but honestly it’s worth it just for the crackers