Co-author John Moody
Today’s author interview, featuring the winning giveaway questions, is with John Moody, co-author of DIY Sourdough: The Beginner’s Guide to Crafting Starters, Breads, Snacks and More.
DIY Sourdough is your personal guide to getting started with sourdough. It gives you a helping hand to succeed and offers a simple time-saving approach to make nourishing and delicious sourdough that fits into a hectic lifestyle.
How do I keep my bread from spreading out and becoming really flat?
There are many things that can cause bread to be flat - improper ingredient proportions, too large a container for too little dough, over or underworking the dough.
Sometimes, working the dough to develop the gluten will improve structure and height. So make sure you have a strong starter and a proven recipe and follow it carefully!
I put my starter in the freezer and now I want to use it. What should I do?
You should follow the instructions in DIY Sourdough, which in summary are :
- Remove and allow to warm
- Once at room temperature, feed the starter
- Wait 12 hours, remove half the starter and feed again
- Wait 12 hours,remove half the starter, and feed again
- Do this for about three to four days.
At this point the starter should be showing signs of good, renewed activity. If not, give it two to three more days of feeding. If after that it still hasn’t revived, you may need to borrow starter or start a new one!
Can I mail sourdough starter?
Yes, but it is best to do during the cooler portions of the year.
Winning Giveaway Question
Winning Question from daisy.chains.932 on Instagram
What made you decide to write the book?
Hunger. Actually, it is a fun story. I (John) was at a conference and meeting with one of New Society’s editors to discuss future book projects. During that meeting we talked about a number of ideas, one that became The Elderberry book and another about sourdough. Jessica is a gifted homemaker, and had done something that many found difficult - fitting sourdough into a full schedule of a homestead/farm, five kids, and other commitments and challenges. So I suggested we do a book about sourdough geared towards helping average folks make it work in real life, and thus the book was born! When I got home and told Jessica we were going to write a book together,she was a wee bit surprised :)
John Moody
John Moody John Moody is the founder of Whole Life Services and Whole Life Buying Club. He won the 2013 Weston A. Price activist of the year award and is one of two old timers and five rambunctious kids who farms and homesteads on 35 acres in Kentucky.
