Roly Allen got into bread making when a stressful period at home and work turned into an even more stressful period of divorce and unemployment. I think we can all relate to stress as we are going through the Covid- 19 pandemic. His book is not only an answer to yes, a healthier digestion, but his simple recipes and presentation make his book earn a 5-star place on your book shelf.

I have been making Challah every Friday, I make yogurt bagels too and have added soda bread, but was really missing my favourite sourdough bread. During this pandemic I am unable to go out to a bakery, so learning how to make one was the only solution. I saw some recipes, but they all looked too hard! Allen understands that not everyone is a bread baker and walks you through the process with ease and understanding. His pictures are AMAZING- they really help!
He has an extra section on getting creative - I will call it giving your bread a boost! This is where you find the recipe for vegan starter, so you can have dairy free bread.
The most important thing I learnt about making sourdough bread is you need patience! But the rewards are worth every bite.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book about sourdough I read. The first book was The Sourdough School from Kimbell, and the second book was from @artisanbryan, and now this book. The first chapter of this book I like, because it has a visualization of what is what, and introducing the sourdough terms in the beginning. This book has a brief explanation about what sourdough is, what equipments we need, or how to maintain starters, etc, I would say the beginning part is good for someone who is really a beginner in the sourdough journey. The second part of this book is more interesting because it has tips and tricks for baking SD or troubleshooting it. The third part is a bunch of recipes, there is only one sweet bread recipe. I think if you are new or want to try SD, this book is a good start, to begin with. This book also mentions other sources as well for further reading.

By coincidence, I saw this book on Netgalley the same day the stores were sold-out of yeast (and toilet paper) due to Covid-19 fears. The starter here, with raisins and yoghurt, is really clever, and the rest of the instructions are very good as well. The book itself is beautiful, with illustrations so good that I believe I can smell the bread.

I've made sourdough bread before, it is much more complex and flavoursome than yeasted bread. It does however involve creating and maintaining a starter culture of flour, water, yeasts and bacteria. A demanding job caused me to abandon my starter to a corner of the fridge.

Roly Allen explains the anatomy of a loaf and a grain of wheat before explaining the principles and techniques of sourdough making.. Then follow sample recipes, first for increasingly sophisticated flavoursome white loaves, then for more adventurous options showing flavouring additions, the use of different types of flour, and different forms of bread.

The accompanying photographs are stunning. There's a picture of each finished loaf plus photos to complement each set of step by step instructions. He shows, for example, a sourdough starter at days 1 to 5.

Both principles and recipes are explained in a very clear and straightforward way. There's plenty of 'why' - important for me as I don't think you can become a really good baker without a thorough understanding of the underlying principles.

I was intrigued that Allen recommends using raisins along with yoghurt to seed the starter of flour and water. I seem to remember using organic pear last time rather than raisins.

In the current corona virus lockdown, I lack organic strong flour to build and maintain a starter. I am determined however kick off again using this excellent guide and springboard to sourdough baking as soon as I can.

I've been baking sourdough bread for almost ten years, off and on, so when this book popped up on netgalley for an advanced reader review, I knew it was for me. Going through the entire process, this book shows you everything you need to do to be a successful sourdough baker. The variety of recipes was very nice. Nice and clear directions and the timing for publication couldn't be more perfect. Sourdough is the best pastime while staying home during the pandemic because it's so easy to work it into your day. A lovely baking book to add to your shelf.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fantastic book which explains the theory and practicalities of baking sourdough bread. This book is great as it explains the science behind sourdough without making it over-complicated. It also contains fantastic photos and a great variety of recipes.

With so much time inside my goal is to make delicious sourdough bread.This book is a fantastic guide from the history of sourdough. To the step by step making of this incredible bread.A terrific guide that will become a part of my collection.#netgalley# lauranceking

As one of many folks who have been working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, I have turned to baking bread as a pastime. I generally use basic recipes where I can make the dough in my faithful 25- year- old bread machine and finish the process myself. Or I use my version of NY Times no-knead bread recipe. But after visiting San Francisco, I have always loved sourdough bread and wanted to try making it. This book is a beautiful introduction to that process. I was immediately drawn by the author's comment, "Even if the rest of your life is in good order, the joy of making something wholesome, nutritious, and (with practice) beautiful with your own hands is priceless, and that is easily shared."

The book is beautifully photographed and the pictures help the reader appreciate the beauty in what can otherwise be seen as mundane. The author effectively uses photos to demonstrate the different kneading techniques and has a brief but helpful section on how to troubleshoot problems with the dough. I like the author's use of yogurt and raisins in making his starter and his basic sourdough recipe of overnight white sourdough bread for the newbie. There are a number of additional recipes, each with accompanying photographs to illustrate some of the techniques used to form the bread. The photographs accompanying each recipe are a highlight of the book.

Minor drawbacks of the book are the need for this aspiring sourdough bread baker in the USA to translate the oven temperature from Centigrade to Fahrenheit and to convert the ingredients from weight to volume as I do not have a kitchen scale. It is also difficult right now to get "strong white bread flour" or flour with a very high gluten content during the pandemic but that will be remedied with time.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book!

With many sourdough books on the market, could this one make a difference? It is promoted as providing a different approach and that it is ideal for a beginner. The photography is good and instructions clear.

However, the recipes are over-complicated and more time consuming than necessary. I'd not heard of the writer and there's little information on how he has acquired his skills. Unfortunately, not a book that will be added to my shelf.

An interesting starter book for those interested in the art of sourdough. There aren’t a lot of ideas on what to do with your discard, but if you’re here for tips and tricks on getting your best loaf this book has you covered.

This is not just a cook book for bread, this is an entire story and life lesson on ALL THINGS BREAD! What a masterfully crafted book with gorgeous photos and details. Want to bake bread, learn all about it and love everything as you create your own loaf? This is THE BOOK then! Get all floured up and learn to raise the perfect loaf!

Thank you so much Laurence King Publishing Ltd & NetGalley for my complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

***** Five AMAZING Stars
How to Raise a Loaf and Fall in Love with Sourdough by Roly Allan is not only a beautiful book but also well organized – and YES YES YES, I fell in love! The book includes faithful explanations for the preparation and care of your Sourdough Starter with accompanying gorgeous photos of mouthwatering recipes.

If you love to bake bread but have never tried baking Sourdough you should really try this method. Although you may end up with a loaf that resembles yeast bread, there is absolutely no comparison in taste. Fresh bread is mostly always yummy but freshly baked Sourdough bread is yummier and in a whole other league.

Although I never buy bread at the grocery and always bake my own, before reading this book, I enthusiastically ate Sourdough breads when I was out, but never tried making them. So, here are my conclusions and my experience after reading this beautiful book by Roly Allan.

The pros…..Sourdough Breads are YUMMY.

The cons…..this might not be a hobby for the busy harried parent in the kitchen (although a seasoned Sourdough baker may not agree). The prep to baked product takes many, many hours, and; my counter and sink looked like a cyclone had torn through the kitchen by the time I finally got the breads to the proofing stage. Compare: Baking bread with a bread machine, even if only used for dough-making, is super easy, fairly quick, and leaves hardly any mess at all – RESULT AMAZING; baking Sourdough bread is messy, sticky (no machine to do the job for you – although I did experiment with one loaf using the machine for kneading and it seemed to fare okay), takes a really long time (advance planning not spontaneous) and requires separate preparations for Starter and Recipe – RESULT EVEN MORE AMAZING.

The bottom line when cooking or baking is the TASTE. Sourdough bread comes in first, in my opinion.

I don’t mind getting my hands a little dirty, especially for something yummy. So, for Sourdough, I was prepared to go the distance. I fretted a little over the Starter (would it or would it not succeed?), but, the Starter turned out to be the easiest and quickest thing to prepare. It also appears to be practically fool-proof – but OMG it can be a huge mess. I followed the directions (sort of) and on day one it rose and bubbled beautifully. Day two, however, was a shocker. I “fed” my Starter before I went to sleep and just as I was about to climb the stairs I remembered that I was supposed to put the jar/s on a tray. I figured, for once in my life maybe I’ll follow directions….Whew was that a close call! I woke up to find my brew had bubbled and overflowed all over the tray - we’re talking really sticky stuff that hardens like cement when it dries. It took me over an hour to clean the gunk off the jars and tray and make sure that I scoured any left-over damp residue on counter and sink. So, I guess the Starter is pretty easy to make, but take care to use a deep jar and only fill about one third full – and it would probably be a good idea to follow instructions.

Putting a tray under the jars (I made three starters) was about the only instruction I followed to the T (I’m incorrigible). For the first prep I used rye flour instead of white flour, no raisins (the cupboard was bare) and instead of water and yogurt I used some leftover whey from making labene or cream cheese last week, and (sheep-face emoji) because I wanted to try to speed things up I actually snipped off a marble sized piece of forgotten yeast dough that seemed to be fermenting in the back of the fridge – somewhere I read that you can make the starter with almost anything so an aging piece of fermenting dough would hopefully speed the task. I whisked this all together and placed in a jar. On subsequent days (two and three) I fed the starter with rye flour and water only, and on day three (today), I was ready to bake!*

If you did the math you might note that I did not feed at the same time each day and that I fed the Starter this morning and used it already this afternoon – two more aberrations – but believe me you will know if the Starter is ready.

I chose to try two of the recipes today: the Sourdough Walnut Rye Bread and the Speckled Beetroot Sourdough (I was feeling adventurous and I just happened to have a raw beetroot in the fridge). By the time I finish this review we will see if all that messy breadmaking work was worth it! If I am successful, I will try the Sun-Dried Tomato and Black Olive Sourdough next, and maybe the Sourdough Oat and Apple Bread. (you can skip to the end – I just pulled them out of the oven).

Some of the breads require kneading (e.g. SWRB) and some require only to form into a ball and let sit (a few times, e.g. SBS) and most require that you then allow to rise for three to six hours before baking on a very high heat with moisture in the oven (I placed two little tins of water on the bottom rack). The SBS (did not require kneading) rose higher like a thick sponge when proofing while the SWRB, that required kneading, had a denser texture even after rising 50% as mandated. This makes sense because the starter is basically a “sponge” so if you don’t “knead” and if you are mixing water and flour into the sponge before letting it rest, you are basically just making the sponge again and bigger.

The bottom line: OMG – HEAVEN – I just pulled the breads out of the oven and let them sit for an hour, as recommended, before slicing. The Rye Walnut had a crunchy crusty on the outside and was dense but soft on the inside. The Speckled Beetroot was lighter and higher which was to be expected because of the sponge-like texture to begin with. The breads came out exactly as gorgeous as they looked in the photos (well, almost exactly I had to ad lib and put sesame on top because I didn’t have the types of “dusting” flour recommended – and I have none of the specialized equipment described in the book). Each of the two breads were the best, I mean The Best, sourdough breads I have Ever eaten.

So was it worth it? YES YES YES. I would jump hoops and climb mountains for these breads!

Thank you NetGalley and Laurence King Publishing Ltd. for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review and especially to Roly Allen for an amazing Sourdough experience.

*Because it hurts me to simply toss out what should be as good as any other base for a Starter I simply divided into three jars and changed from one Starter to three. But, because if I had continued by this method, I probably would have had about 81 jars of Starter in five days (this sounds a little like the Corona Virus), I eventually took off a good portion and stuck in the fridge to revive at a later date. Also, I’ve been doing a little surfing on the internet and will be making biscuits, crumpets, and maybe even pizza dough with the cast-off excess Starter – a whole new world has opened up to me. I hope you enjoy too ! 😊🤤

Awesome book and very well explained! There are lots of photos showing every single step with all the information you need to make your own loaf! It also has information about why your loaf did't rise what mistakes you could have do for this to happen! Awesome book! I can't wait to make my own sourdough loaf.

I got an advance reader's copy of this book complimentary from NetGallery in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! One of the prettiest and user-friendly baking cookbooks I've read!

I have read several baking books recently, and I love that this one is not only relevant to the times, beautifully illustrated, and easy to use, but that it includes some novel ideas for how to make a starter other than the traditional flour/water base.

I particularly loved how simple the breads that he writes about are to make. There are few hard-to-find ingredients, but the way he puts them in the book make the recipes quite different from each other. I would actually make at least 90% of these loaves myself, instead of merely admiring the photos and thinking how much I'd like to buy them in a bakery!

This book would also make a lovely gift for any home baker!

I received an ARC as a reviewer for NetGalley.

I have already been a focused bread maker for a year. It soothes me and makes me feel so much better. This book is a perfect companion to the one I already own. There is a wide variety of recipes for loaves, sandwich bread, sticks, and even chocolate bread. The steps are simple, even for someone who is just learning to bake. I am so excited to add these to my baking list. If you are wanting to get your feet wet with bread, this is the way to go!

Fantastic bread baking book.... thanks to the publisher for an ARC to read and give an honest opinion. Anyone who says bread making is not an art has never tried to make bread. Honestly it’s as hard as it looks. Sourdough bread though is a more daunting making bread than I’ve ever seen. You really have to know your grains and how to formulate a starter to see some gorgeous results.

What did I like? I was over the moon because for every recipe there is a picture. Maybe because the author is a guy? Guys are much more visual but every recipe gets its own picture which absolutely floored me. Always my biggest peeve when ordering a book with recipes is that it hardly has any pictures. The actually starter bread that has to ferment for a few days to start a colony of bacteria for the loaf is a bit daunting but the author gives clear pictures of what your colony should look like day to day. Plus clear instructions on how to knead and bake.

Would I recommend or buy? I’ve always said that in times of crisis, and the stores empty of bread that this would be the one thing that would be a good thing to know how to bake so your family doesn’t go with out bread. This is a beautiful book and it displays easier than a video. I totally recommend this for anyone looking to learn to make sourdough and other variations of bread.

Thoughts for the author? Beautiful book. Congratulations on your new release! I am definitely pleased with how detailed this book is. Kudos for a great addition.

This is a lovely book however, for a book targeted to beginners it lacks a few details. For example what protein content constitutes "strong white flour". As someone from the US it would be helpful to have temperature measurements in Fahrenheit.

Wow! Everything you could possibly need. So excited to read this and grow my own starter. I have been wanting to do this for a few months now, thankful for this guide! Although I do wish it was offered in a kindle format.

I've been an amateur bread baker for several years and have dabbled in sourdough for a few of those, but my results are usually disappointing. I was eager to read this to get some tips on how to make my bread better and it did deliver on that. I liked that it took the time to go into specifics and reasons on why we do things and how it helps. However, I think that this bread method is well outside of the normal and I'm not sure if this will help with typical sourdough. I've never seen a sourdough starter that contains raisins and yogurt, instead of the typical flour and water. I'm sure that this method produces a great taste, but I'm skeptical. I did enjoy the other recipes in the book and look forward to incorporating some into my baking life.

If a cookbook can be timely - this one is! Perfect for pandemic comfort baking. Step by step instructions with gorgeous photography for how to make your starter, knead, form and bake the perfect loaf. Loaded with recipes for a huge variety of sourdoughs with lots of suggestions on how to get creative with it. Immensely readable in plain English but also packed with science and baking facts.