So, you got yourself a sourdough starter. You are now the proud owner of a jar of bubbly beige substance that you've heard your friends talking about and seen all over social media. Now what?

I'll admit, when I got my first starter (it took two attempts to catch on with me) I was all excited...until I read the directions. It was three typed pages of instructions and as I scanned through the steps and the new terms I had never seen before, I felt my brain shutting down. "Absolutely not," a voice said, "We are not doing this."

I quit sourdough the first time, but awhile later I felt bad I had half-assed it and wanted to try again. This time, I decided to fully commit and force myself to get through all the steps to make a loaf at least 3 times in a row. After repeating the process a couple times, it feels less foreign and you start to feel the flow of sourdough.

If you don't already have a digital kitchen scale, you will definitely need one. You can usually snag one for $10 or find a good used on on Facebook Marketplace. I never wanted to weight ingredients pre-sourdough but I can honestly say it has transformed my cooking and baking. I use my scale every day and I absolutely love it.

It's actually not that much work, it's mostly timing and planning ahead (two things I am not great at). The active time is fairly short, it's mostly waiting the right amount of time in between steps. And trust me, once you pull that first gorgeous loaf out of your oven you might just be hooked.

If this is your first time reading sourdough instructions, take a deep breath and maybe grab a tea or coffee. It may sound overwhelming but I promise once you get your head around it, it becomes second nature and it's no big deal at all.

YouTube will be your friend in the early days. Any of the steps that seem confusing (it's so hard to put some things into words) just look up a video and keep revisiting it as you refine your skills.

Here we go! Welcome to the wild world of homemade sourdough.

One more tip before we dive it: I highly recommend 2 things at the beginning of your journey.

TIP #1: Master a basic loaf before you dive into wild and crazy recipes. It can take a lot of work to really nail the bulk ferment, etc. before you move on to more challenging recipes with more ingredients.

TIP #2: Don't buy every fancy gadget and tool right off the bat. Other than a digital scale, everything else is optional and you probably already have what you need to get started in your kitchen. Add in tools one at a time as you learn the art and decide which ones you really need. 

Click here for a guide on feeding your starter

Click here for my favourite basic recipe

Once you get the basics of a plain loaf down, the fun can really begin! Pinterest and cookbooks will spiral you into what I hope is a satisfying and rewarding new hobby for you. Sourdough can be absolutely maddening as you keep learning new things and, if you're a perfectionist like me, trying to make it better every time.

I'll leave you with one last thought: remember, this is SUPPOSED TO BE FUN! Like anything else, you'll discover a world of people who take things too seriously and argue over what is the best way to do things and what "proper" sourdough looks like. Spend your time learning YOUR chosen recipe, and learn the rules so you can later on decide which rules to break! But have fun and don't stress. At the end of the day, fresh sourdough bread is always a good thing!