You might be asking, why does a blog need a mission statement? To which I would respond, why does a bowler need a manager? Of course, that response only makes sense if you’ve seen Kingpin. If you haven’t, I’d actually recommend you stop reading this and go watch it, because it’s a classic.

Anyway, that was enough of a tangent. I’ve decided to have a mission statement, which is really just a purpose or aim, to justify my existence (the blog’s existence, to be more exact). After all, there’s already more than enough blogs and recipes, so why add one more?

Here’s why: Because over the past few years of baking, I’ve learned that sourdough baking is actually super easy, but the recipes usually aren’t. Sometimes, they go too deep on the science. Which I find interesting, but I don’t think a lot of people care about. Other times, they’re way too precise. If you’ve already tried sourdough baking, you’ve probably seen a recipe that calls for 32 grams of this and 47 grams of that, all at a certain temperature.

What I’ve realized while maintaining pretty strict records of my baking is that I’ve never noticed that much of a difference in the final product. Sure, I notice a difference when I use a wetter dough versus a stiff dough, but I couldn’t tell you the difference between using 62 grams of a sourdough starter versus 150 grams or 10% whole wheat flour versus 13%, one is just easier to scale and calculate in my head.

You might be thinking, “Matt, maybe you just have a shitty palate!” And I wouldn’t even argue with that. Maybe I do. But, if I do, then most of the world probably does too. Since every single loaf of sourdough bread that I’ve made has been amazing to me, why not make the recipes as easy to execute as possible for them too, right?

I don’t know if there’s any truth to sourdough being healthy, more digestible, or even better for people with gluten sensitivity, but I do know that you can make a kick-ass loaf of bread in your home that is as good as any artisan bakery and for way less money.

So here’s my mission statement…

Make sourdough baking more accessible and always keep it simple.

That’s it. That’s what I’m going for. Hopefully, I can convert some non-bread bakers and put more good food out into the world. I’ll post my favorite bread and pizza recipes, along with any kitchen hacks that I come up with or come across. I’ll start by throwing out two that you’ll probably read a lot: 1) The wetter the better, and 2) Parchment paper is your pal.

So go get your simple sourdough starter going, bake a bunch of bread, and be sure to tag me on IG (@sourdoughmadesimple) to let me know how your sourdough journey is going.