making sourdough starter, with sarah owens

Those of you who are regular listeners know I have a similar fascination with other forms of fermentation and culturing–making homemade yogurt, or lacto-fermented concoctions from fruits and garden vegetables, for instance.

Along those lines today we’re going to learn about sourdough, and specifically about how to grow your own homemade sourdough starter from a few humble ingredients.

No, no mail-order packets of the stuff are used by Sarah Owens, author of“Sourdough: Rustic Recipes for Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More.” Originally a professional ceramic artist, Sarah trained as a horticulturist at New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture.

After graduation in 2009, she spent the next six years specializing in the organic care of roses at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, as the BBG rosarian. In 2013, Sarah founded BK17 Bakery as a way to bring real bread back to Brooklyn.

Sarah visited my public-radio show and podcast to talk sourdough 101.Read along as you listen to the Feb. 22, 2106 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

Q. You came to sourdough baking because of your own food intolerances, I read in your bio in the book—but I didn’t know that, because the book doesn’t look like it’s for