Ive never made bread from scratch before but decided sourdough should be my first attempt. How hard could it be? Ha! So I made my first sourdough boule-der just a week ago. As a newbie I painstakingly fed my starter every 12 hours. Painstakingly measured my discard. Mistake #1 left starter in oven with light on and almost dried it out. #2 reconstituted dried out starter . #3 didn’t supplement with any yeast in dough for struggling starter. #4 decided dough was too wet and sticky so kneaded in extra flour during my folds until dough was nice and firm to obtain the beautiful ball shape described in recipe #5 skipped last rise in the fridge - seemed optional #6 didn’t own a Dutch oven or know about the steam so baked on the rack - recipe left that part out #7 allowed my husband to saw it open out of the oven which required considerable effort. After getting through fired clay like crust revealed perfectly gummy center-what the heck?? #8 put the halves back in the oven to cook the gummy dough #9 decided to videotape my husband eating our first slice and sent to family. Sounded clearly like he was chewing ice or hard candy. Hence my sourdough boulder. Saved the day and made French onion soup. Soaking for about 10 minutes in soup made it edible. Faint praise received - “well the taste is pretty good.” FYI 3rd attempt was the best bread I’ve ever had after correcting my many mistakes.

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