The Sourdough School

BALM – Proven as one of the healthiest approaches to bread in the world.

Based in the walled gardens of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell's beautiful Victorian home in rural Northamptonshire, UK, we tutor individuals and train bakers and healthcare professionals in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM). Personalising bread to your lifestyle, gut microbiome, and unique genetics for optimal health—tailoring fermentation, fibre, and diversity so that your daily bread becomes the foundation of your health.

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We advise all our sourdough course users to start here, at the beginning and really get to know the fundamentals of your loaf. We are asked all the time why does my sourdough loaf look flat? Is sourdough bread healthy? In this core knowledge section, we really delve into everything you will ever need to know about the theory behind sourdough bread baking. These lessons aren't the same as our practical guides but they will help you to understand the process that will make your bread rise, taste delicious and offer you all the health benefits that sourdough is known for.

If you've eagerly raced ahead and started on the practical sourdough course lessons, then you may find that it doesn't turn out quite the way you expected at first. If that is the case, then everything you need to know to explain why that may have happened, whether you haven't achieved a DDT, or quite got to grips with your fermentation controls or bassinage, then look no further. All will be explained in this comprehensive set of videos.

Estimated total time: 44 hours 25 mins.

Wood Fired Oven Advice by Michael Hanson

bubbly sourdough starter

Things You Need to Know Before You Get a Sourdough Starter

The Two Classic Methods to Make Sourdough – Ambient & Retarded

BALM – Baking as Lifestyle Medicine is an evidence based protocol that sets the gold standard for baking healthy bread

One Dough – limitless options

timings

Plan and Record Each Bake

Sourdough Fermentation Controls Explained

Fermentation Explained

What is Autolyse?

Understanding Mixing Your Dough for a Boule

Shaping Overview

Understanding that Bassinage is a Process that is a Continuation of Mixing

open crumb structure

Open Crumb Structure

The Secret to Success is DDT

What Is A Baker’s Percentage? Essential Knowledge

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