Adjustments: These are changes that you make to your basic recipe, based on taste, temperature or available ingredients on hand in your pantry or kitchen. (see recipe)

Aeration: To incorporate air into a batch or mixture by beating or whipping together of the ingredients. (see incorporate)

All-purpose flour: What most people buy in the grocery store as "white flour." It's a wheat flour, and good for most general baking. (see bread flour - for a sourdough bread tip)

Baking from scratch: This is a baking term and description used, when you prepare and assemble all your dry and wet baking ingredients, by following a recipe. Read the recipe thoroughly before beginning the measuring and mixing process. This is unlike buying a prepared mix, (all the work is done for you) and you just add the water. (see recipe)

Baking Powder: Baking powder is a combination of chemicals, usually bicarbonate of soda, sodium aluminum sulfate and a filler. The most commonly used baking powder is a double acting type, found in your grocery baking section. Test for its strength by mixing one teaspoon baking powder with 1/4 cup of very hot water. If you do not get a vigorous foaming action, your baking powder is not fresh. Do not use it. Purchase a new can from your local supermarket. Check the expiration date also while at the supermarket. (see expiration date)

Baking Soda: Baking soda is pure bicarbonate of soda. If required in a recipe, it can be found in your grocery baking section.

Baking stone: Also known as and referred to as a pizza stone. They come in popular pizza kits. It can be a ceramic tile, or a ceramic slab, usually 1/2 inch up to 1 inch thick, round or square in shape. Free-form loaves can be baked directly on it. A baking stone holds the oven heat very well. Normally it's preheated with the oven, before the risen loaf of bread is placed on it for baking. Follow the manufacturer's directions.

Baking time: Always check your baking items in the oven, 5 to 10 minutes before the end of the recommended baking time. This critical check is to allow for oven temperature variations, and a burned or overdone loaf of bread.

Baking with Sourdough: A great how-to-book with 32 pages of sourdough information along with many tasty recipes by Sara Pitzer. Use its many recipes to create sourdough bread and other wonderful treats such as sourdough chocolate cake, sourdough zucchini bread, sourdough pretzels, pancakes, biscuits, and more...! (see yankee harvest country store)

Basting Brush: This is a kitchen brush that is used to apply a liquid (wash) over the top of any baked item, before, during, or after the baking process. (see wash)

Batch: The entire mixed ingredients or all the contents of a recipe.

Blend: To mix or fold two or more ingredients of a recipe together with a spoon, fork, whisk or with an electric mixer.

Bloom: In bread baking, the word bloom refers to the nice attractive, brownish color of the crust on a properly baked loaf of bread. Delicious and picture perfect. (see zip-a-dee-do-da)

Bread flour: This type of flour is the same as all-purpose flour, except that it has a higher gluten content. This is what makes it great for yeast breads. Do not use this type of flour for quick breads, cookies, and cakes. If you're making sourdough bread, bread flour's high gluten content is a big help in getting the dough to rise well from your starter. Bread flour is preferred for use in bread machines. (see starter)

Bread Rising Volume: Too much flour or salt, or too little, will inhibit (slow down) the gluten's performance and the dough will not rise to its full size or fill the baking pan. Use the amount of flour your recipe calls for to make sure the dough will hold its shape while baking. To test if dough has sufficiently risen on the first rise, insert your fingers into dough. If the indentation from your fingers remains, it is ready to punch down. If not, allow to rise a little longer. Do not allow your bread dough to overrise, otherwise, it may collapse in the oven during baking. Follow the baking rule and allow your dough to rise until it has doubled in volume (size).

Brick - mason's: Keeping your sourdough bread in a humid (moist) environment during the baking process, is very critical. This can be done in the home oven as follows: Obtain a clean mason's clay brick. Scrub it well. Soak it over night, covered completely in a bucket of clean tap or spring water. When you place your dough loaves on the oven rack, place the moist clay brick on another oven rack. The moist clay brick, when hot, will release its moisture (steam), the critical humidity element, that is required during the sourdough baking process. (see humidity)

Butter: Butter is produced by churning fresh dairy cream into a semi-solid block. It is sold in a stick form or by the pound. Butter used for baking may be salted or unsalted. It is used by most bread bakers for its flavor, and provides a golden-brown color to the crust. (see wash)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A heavier than air gas which is produced as a result of the fermentation of sugars by active yeast cells. Different strains (types) of yeast are used for different commercial processes, such as brewing beer, making wine, and making all types of yeast breads.

Ceramic baking slab or tile: (see baking stone)

Colombo: A Famous San Francisco bakery. Early San Francisco settlers discovered that it was the air along the Golden Gate that gave their bread its unique and delicious tangy taste. The superior taste gave birth to the now famous San Francisco bakeries of Toscana, Parisian, and Colombo. Ever since, the mysterious sourdough bread has remained a popular staple on San Francisco tables for its many visitors and locals alike.

Cool: To let baked bread or food stand at room temperature, until it is no longer warm to the touch by your hands.

Cooling rack: A rectangular grid made of chrome plated wire with "formed feet" that raise it above the countertop. Cooling racks are used to cool the bread, other baked items when they come out of the hot oven. Yeast breads are removed from the pans and onto the rack as soon as they come out of the oven to prevent a soggy crust.

Commercial (or domesticated) yeast: This is yeast that you can easily buy at the supermarket. These are yeasts like Fleischmann's or Red Star. There are many kinds and types: compressed baker's yeast, instant yeast, active dry yeast, instant active dry yeast, and probably many others in the market place. (see expiration date)

Consistent Crust: Carefully measure ALL your ingredients. Too much flour, or too little sugar or oil, can toughen your bread crust. Doughs made with water generally have a crispier crust than those made with milk.

Cornmeal: Whole grain, dry corn kernels, that have been ground into a fine, medium or coarse meal.

Crumb: In baking, this is a word to describe the interior of the bread loaf. It includes everything that isn't the crust. When you finish cutting and eating your bread, these are also the small left over bits and pieces on your plate.

Crust Color: For a darker, richer color, brush the finished loaves lightly with melted butter or margarine. Then quickly return them to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes more of baking. Aluminum baking pans reflects the oven heat. This can and does result in a lighter colored bread loaf. Try using baking pans made from steel or materials other than aluminum. (see wash)

Domesticated yeast: (see commercial yeast)

Dust: To sprinkle flour on a working surface (table or bread board) or inside a baking pan to keep dough from sticking. To lightly sprinkle a baked item or crust with flour, or a grain meal. (see cornmeal)

Egg Wash: A mixture of a fresh egg and 1/4 cup of milk or water. This is brushed onto the unbaked surface of breads, just before baking, to give a nice shine to their crusts. (see basting brush)

Eggs: Eggs used in baking bread, add nutrition and color, provide volume and bind (glue) all the bread ingredients together. Use large (fresh) eggs (at room temperature) in your recipes, unless the recipe calls out something different.

Expiration date: In baking or cooking in general, this is very critical to watch out for. This is especially true when buying yeast from your local grocery store. If you use an ingredient or product after the expiration date, you are taking both a gamble with your recipe results and your health. If your recipe comes out spoiled, wrecked, or not with the results that were expected, you have wasted both your time, energy and the money involved to buy all fresh ingredients or products, and start all over again. (see shelf life)

Fats: Using fats such as butter, margarine, and oil have a smoothing effect on the gluten's network. By adding fats to bread dough, this will allow your dough to stretch more easily. Fats also help improve the flavor, and quality of the bread.

Fermentation: Yeast breaks down the simple sugars and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide through the process we know as fermentation. In bread making, this is the process known as the rise. (see leaven, see rise, see yeast)

Fisherman's Wharf: If there is any place you must visit, Fisherman's Wharf, in San Francisco, California is the place. This is the pulse of the city...! Many shops to visit and food to taste. Tour boats leave from Fisherman's Wharf to bring you to Alcatraz. Bring a sweater, as the San Francisco bay winds can be brisk and chilly. When you return, be sure to try the famous San Francisco dungeness crabs along with chili or clam chowder in a delicious sourdough bread bowl at restaurants on Fisherman's Wharf. A true San Francisco tradition...!!!

Flavorings: Natural extracts, fruit flavors and liquors should be added to the bread ingredients at room temperature. Follow the flavor directions and your recipe carefully when using them.

Flour Shelf Life: When buying ingredients for bread making, always check the expiration date on the products. To extend shelf life of your flour, store in sealed containers in the freezer. Bring to room temperature several hours before you use it. (see expiration date)

Flour Storage: Flour should be kept in a clean, airtight container and stored in a cool, dry place.

Flying crust or "blows it top": This is the name given when the entire upper crust of a loaf of bread rises and detaches itself from the rest of the loaf while baking. It usually occurs because of insufficient or no slashing (see slashing) to allow the natural gases to escape during the baking. Breads made with commercial yeast seldom have this flying crust problem. All sourdough bread should be slashed, plus, to give it that nice artistic touch you see in all the bread pictures. (see slashing)

Freezing Breads: Allow your bread loaf to cool completely. Frozen bread keeps and defrosts well. To freeze, allow the loaf to cool before placing it in freezer bags. Remove all the air from the bag or ice crystals will form during the freezing process. Allow the bread to thaw inside the plastic bags to re-absorb the moisture lost during the freezing process. To defrost your bread, place it, (unwrapped) on a baking sheet. Heat it in a preheated (350° F) oven, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Glass Baking Pans: When using glass baking pans instead of metal baking pans, reduce your oven temperature by (25 degrees F). Do not use glass and metal pans together in your oven when baking.

Gluten: A natural protein in wheat flour. When the bread dough is kneaded, gluten becomes an elastic net that traps the carbon dioxide produced by the commercial yeast. The more the gluten is worked, by kneading the dough, the chewier the bread is. When baking sourdough bread, however, it's important to fully "work" the gluten. Wild yeast doesn't always produce much carbon dioxide gas, and you want to be sure that none of the gas is lost. Using a bread flour, which has more gluten than all-purpose flour, is very important if you want your bread to rise well.

Greasing the pan: Applying a thin coating of shortening inside a bread, cake, or pie pan to prevent the dough from sticking.

Hand Washing: Always wash your hands, before making or eating any food. Use warm water and soap. Rinse under running water, rubbing your hands together. Dry with a clean fresh towel. Anyone who cooks, should do hand washing to prevent the spread of germs and disease.

Herbs: Herbs are the aromatic leaves of plants without woody stems that grow in temperate zones. Herbs and spices should be stored in air tight glass jars. They should be stored in a cool, dark place for no more than six months.

High-altitude baking:
When you live in elevations over 5,000 feet, baking adjustments to your liquids, leavening agents, sugar, and oven temperatures are needed for your recipes. For elevations at 5,000 feet or higher, it is recommended that you add an additional one (1) tablespoon of water to your recipes. Also make a note in your recipe book of any adjustments that you do make.

Honey: Honey is an all-natural sweetener produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. The flavor of honey depends on the kind of flowers the bee finds in the local fields. Clover honey is considered the best for baking. You may obtain it from a natural foods store or local grocery. (see molasses)

Humidity: Keeping your sourdough bread in a humid (moist) environment during the baking process, is very critical. This can be done in the home oven as follows: Place a small metal pan of hot water on the bottom of the oven. Then place your dough loaves on the bottom rack, in your hot oven, and close the oven door. Follow the rest of your recipe. NOTE: If you have oven room, you may also place a clay brick in the pan. (see brick - mason's)

Incorporate: Mix or add into the batch or mixture. An ingredient incorporated, (mixed) thoroughly into the bread dough mixture.

Indent test: To test if dough has sufficiently risen on the first rise, insert your fingers into dough. If the indentation from your fingers remains, it is ready to punch down. If not, allow to rise a little longer. Do not allow your bread dough to overrise. Overrise in your bread may cause it to collapse in the oven during baking. Follow the baking rule and allow your dough to rise until it has doubled in (size) volume. (see punch down)

Jog: A term used to describe a mixing method that is usually done in the first part of mixing a recipe. This is done by turning the mixer on an off quickly. Some mixing machines have this mixing feature done automatically by a special jog switch.

Knead: Kneading is a process that develops and strengthens the natural gluten in dough. It's important to knead your bread dough well in order for it to rise well. Kneading can be done by hand on your "floured" bread board, kitchen counter or in your bread machine. (see dust)

Knock Down: A bread baking term describing the process to release the carbon dioxide gas, that has formed from a bread dough that has risen fully. Make a fist and push it into the center of the dough. Pull the edges of the dough to the center and turn the dough over in the mixing bowl. Cover the bowl and let it rise again before starting the shaping of the dough loaf. (see mold)

Lactobacilli: These are the bacteria that exist in a very special relationship with the wild yeast. They produce the lactic and acetic acids, creating the special sought after sourdough flavor.

Lactobacillus Sanfranciscans: This is a particular strain (type) of lactobacilli which is found in the San Francisco area of California. This particular strain of lactobacilli gives the San Francisco sourdough its very unique taste. Without this particular strain of lactobacilli, you cannot make San Francisco sourdough bread.

Leaven: That something ingredient mixed into the bread dough mixture, that causes bread to rise, also known as "rising". It normally includes your wild yeast, commercial yeast, baking powder, baking soda, and other chemical leaveners used in modern baking today.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup is produced by boiling down the sap collected from maple trees. This is done in very early spring. It takes 40 gallons of fresh sap, which is boiled down, to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. The flavor and color of the maple syrup depends on many factors. You may obtain it from a natural foods store, local grocery or supermarket. (see molasses)

Margarine: For the best results with recipes that call for margarine, you should use a pure margarine product. Do not use a margarine spread, whipped, or a reduced-fat form of margarine. The margarine may be salted or unsalted. (see salt)

Measuring Flour: To measure flour accurately, spoon it into a clean, dry measuring cup until it is overflowing. Level off the measuring cup with a straight edge (wood or metal spatula). Do not pack the flour down. (see spatula)

Metal Bowls and Utensils: Never use metal bowls or steel utensils when working with sourdough. The natural acids will react with aluminum, silver, or steel kitchen utensils, corroding them and ruining the flavor and health of your San Francisco Sourdough Starter.

Molasses: Molasses has a strong flavor in baking. You may substitute molasses with an equivalent amount of honey or maple syrup. (see honey, see maple syrup)

Mold or Molding: To shape the finished dough into loaves by using your hands. This is the forming of the dough into its final shape before baking in the oven.

Mother Starter Your own yeast source for making sourdough bread. (see refrigerator starter)

Natural Leaven: That unique ingredient that causes the bread to rise. A leaven of so-called "wild" or natural yeast and lactobacilli . As opposed to the supermarkets and commercial bakers' yeast which you purchase. This would also include the leavens of natural yeast without lactobacilli. (See sourdough bread)

Oil: Pure vegetable oil and olive oil are used in baking. Olive oil is used in bread making.

Oven Moisture: Keeping your sourdough bread in a humid (moist) environment during the baking process, is very critical. (see brick - mason's, see humidity)

Oven Racks: Bake your cakes, muffins, and cookies on the middle rack in your oven. Bake your yeast breads and pies on the lower position rack, unless otherwise specified by the recipe.

Over Browning: If your bread begins to brown too quickly, cover the loaves loosely with aluminum foil for the remainder of the baking time.

Pan Position: Position your bread pans in the oven so that they are evenly exposed to the oven temperature, allowing the hot air to circulate between the pans. Do not stack together. Bake bread on the lower oven rack, unless your recipe states otherwise. (see over browning, see glass baking pans)

Parisian: A Famous San Francisco bakery. Early San Francisco settlers discovered that it was the air along the Golden Gate that gave their bread its unique and delicious tangy taste. The superior taste gave birth to the now famous San Francisco bakeries of Toscana, Parisian, and Colombo. Ever since, the mysterious sourdough bread has remained a popular staple on San Francisco tables for its many visitors and locals alike.

Peel: A flat wide wooden blade fixed to a long pole. This is used for inserting the formed bread dough and removing the baked bread from hearth type ovens. Pizza shops also use it for their wide ovens.

Pizza Stone: (see baking stone, see peel)

Preheat your oven: This is a process of heating your empty oven to the recommended recipe baking or cooking temperature. This is done before placing the item to be baked in the oven. Please double check your oven area, and remove ALL unwanted items from it, BEFORE you turn it on. Ovens have a habit of becoming storage places.

Proofing: Fill a clean glass measuring cup with 1/2 cup warm water (110ºF to 115ºF). Add one (1) teaspoon granulated sugar and one (1) full packet of your yeast. Stir to dissolve the contents completely. In ten minutes, the yeast should foam up at least 1/2 inch high in the measuring cup. Use this active yeast and sugar solution to make your bread, by adding more warm water to the amount specified on the yeast package or recipe directions. If you do not get a foaming action, your yeast is not active or fresh. Do not use it. Obtain some fresh culture(starter) from a baking friend or commercial packets from your local supermarket. Check the expiration date on the supermarket yeast packet. (see expiration date)

Pulse: A cooking term used to describe a (on - off) mixing method. (see jog).

Punch Down: The process of releasing carbon dioxide gas that has formed from a risen loaf of bread. (see knock down)

Quality Control: Quality control is used to insure that all the ingredients, mixes and steps of the baking process are kept to the bakers high standards.

Recipe: The exact formula which includes the amounts of, or weights of, the ingredients to be used. It also consists of all the mixing and processing procedures required to make a delicious finished baked product for your table.

Recipe Preparation: Assemble all your fresh baking ingredients. STOP. Read the recipe thoroughly before beginning the measuring and mixing process. This will save a lot of heartache and frustration later on.

Refresh: It is a process of "Feeding" your mother starter to get going (fermenting) again. This is done by adding (feeding) nutrients in the form of sugar, water and flour to re-activate the starter and bring its leavening levels, back to high fermentation activity to cause your bread to fully rise.

Refrigerator (or Storage) Starter: A starter that is stored in the refrigerator most of the time. When needed, it is taken out, refreshed and fully activated prior to mixing your bread dough. (see refresh)

Relax: When kneading bread, the natural gluten can get very stiff. By allowing the dough to sit covered in a bowl, and the gluten to relax for 10 to 15 minutes, it becomes easier to knead the bread. Also the risk of tearing the gluten is greatly reduced. Relax, is what we do after baking bread and enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Rise, Rising: When the dough is allowed to sit long enough in a warm area, the yeast will produce sufficient carbon dioxide to make the dough swell (rise). A rule of thumb, is to allow the bread to rise; to at least twice your starting size or volume. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place, 75° to 85°F, and away from drafts that can inhibit (slow down) the rising process. (see indent test, see knock down, see leaven)

San Francisco Sourdough bread: Bread leavened solely by the wild yeast, lactobacillus sanfranciscans. Without this particular strain of lactobacilli, you cannot make true San Francisco sourdough bread.

San Francisco French Bread Company: Through acquisitions and mergers, Parisian, Colombo, and Toscana became known today as the San Francisco French Bread Company.

Salt: Salt is chemically know as sodium chloride (NaCl). It adds a flavors to baked goods. It slightly enhances the flavors of other ingredients. Salt has a retarding (slowing down) effect on the activity of bread yeast. Use it sparingly.

Salt substitute: It is not recommended for baking. Salt substitute is chemically know as potassium chloride (KnCl). Normally, it is bitter in taste. It is intended for lowering your sodium intake. Do not confuse this chemical with the salt substitute mixtures or blends made with potassium chloride.

Scoring: Marking the loaves of bread for identification purposes. (see slashing)

Scratch: (see baking from scratch, see recipe)

Shaping: To reduce or eliminate large air bubbles when shaping loaves, roll out your dough into a rectangle size of approximately 9 inches X 12 inches. From the 9 inch end, roll up the dough, jelly-roll style, sealing dough with your hand after each rotational turn. Bread loaves may be baked free-form on a greased baking sheet or a pizza stone, sprinkled with cornmeal. Cornmeal will prevent the bread dough from sticking to the pizza stone. (see baking stone, see mold)

Shelf life: A general term used to describe the degree of freshness or life span of a product. (see expiration date)

Slashing: These are the knife cuts you make in the top of a loaf of bread before baking. Making the cuts is more than being artistic or decorative. The slashing allows the carbon dioxide produced during the baking process to escape without the loaf bursting in many places. (see flying crust, see scoring)

Smooth, Round Ball: For a more elastic consistency in your bread dough, carefully measure all your wet and dry bread ingredients. If the dough appears too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour, and knead to a proper consistency. If the dough appears too dry, add 1 tablespoon of liquid, and then knead to the proper consistency. Given a gamblers choice, start with a soft dough and then add your flour. You will find it's much easier to knead flour into a bread dough, than a liquid.

Soften a Crust: To soften a crust, brush the hot bread crust with melted butter as soon as it comes out of the oven. (see wash)

Sourdough Bread: Bread leavened or started solely by wild yeast.

Sourdough Starter: A mixture of natural yeast and lactobacilli maintained over a period of time (months or years). With the proper conditions, it is allowed to grow and be continued on and on, for the purpose of leavening (starting) bread in the future.

Spices: Spices are seasonings obtained from the bark, buds, fruit or flower parts, roots, seeds or stems of various aromatic plants and trees. Herbs and spices should be stored in air tight glass jars. They should be stored in a cool, dark place for no more than six months.

Sponge: In bread baking terms, a mixture of only part of the bread's ingredients, generally all the water and part of the flour. The sponge allows for increased fermentation, meaning better flavor and generally better rising. If allowed to stand around too long, a sponge will create a bread that's so sour, that it tastes bad, and won't rise properly. A big waste of time and ingredients. Sorry, give it to the birds...!

Spatula: A thin, flat, flexible metal knife with a rounded end that is used for spreading icing on a cake. (see measuring flour)

Starter: A mixture of flour and water also incorporating a culture of wild yeast and lactobacilli. Some starter recipes also contain potatoes, milk, and many other things. Store your starter in a glass crock or ceramic container. Never use metal bowls or steel containers when working with starters or sourdough. The natural acids will react with aluminum, silver, or your steel kitchen utensils, corroding them and ruining the flavor and health of your San Francisco Sourdough Starter.

Storing Breads: Keep your bread in a paper bag for up to two days, if you want a crisp crust. Do not wrap in a plastic wrap, unless you want a very soft crust. Store bread at room temperature, or freeze it. Leaving bread in a refrigerator, tends to dry out the bread. To freshen up your bread, place it, (unwrapped) on a baking sheet. Heat it in a preheated (350° F) oven, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Sugar: Sugar is quick food for the bread yeast. Sugar helps it to produce the carbon dioxide gas that allows the yeast to activate (multiply) to make your loaf of bread rise. Sugar can give a golden color to the crust. It also adds flavor to the breads.

Testing your yeast: If you haven't baked bread for awhile, this is a good idea before you start. (see proofing)

Thermometer: An excellent kitchen tool for making yeast breads, baking breads and cooking in general. A thermometer indicates (shows) the temperature of a liquid, mixture, or dough, very quickly. Always use a thermometer to measure liquid temperature before adding it to or with the yeast. No guesswork with your yeast starter temperatures. Every kitchen should have at least one good cooking thermometer.

Toscana: A Famous San Francisco bakery. Early San Francisco settlers discovered that it was the air along the Golden Gate that gave their bread its unique and delicious tangy taste. The superior taste gave birth to the now famous San Francisco bakeries of Toscana, Parisian, and Colombo. Ever since, the mysterious sourdough bread has remained a popular staple on San Francisco tables for its many visitors and locals alike.

Underproofed bread: Shaped or molded bread which has not reached the desired height (rise) or volume before being baked in the oven. (see mold, see rise)

Unleavened: A word used in baking to describe cakes, breads, or other baked items that do not use a leavening agent, such as yeast, baking powder, or baking soda. (see leaven, see natural leaven)

Vegetable shortening: This is vegetable oil (soybean or cottonseed) that is processed, so that it will be a solid fat. It is normally sold by the can, and located in the baking section of your store.

Wash: To brush a liquid over the top of any baked item, before, during, or after the baking process. Melted butter, egg, oil, water and milk, are the common baking washes that are used today. (see basting brush)

"Warm" water: In baking, this is water that's close to your normal body temperature. It's necessary for the water to be at this temperature when baking bread with commercial yeast. Commercial yeast is expected to work quickly, and needs to be activated with warm water. With wild yeast, this isn't necessary. Using warm water in the sponge of sourdough bread makes very little difference. It will take several hours for the wild yeast from your starter to start the rising process, and the added water will be cool by then.

Wild yeast: The only kind of yeast used when making authentic sourdough. Don't misinterpret that; there are many varieties of wild yeast, each with its own characteristics. Several different kinds of wild yeast can be found in a single starter. Unlike commercial yeast that you get at your local supermarket, wild yeast prefers an acidic environment. It has to, to survive the acids produced by the lactobacilli. (see lactobacilli: see wooden spoons)

Wooden Spoons: Wooden spoons are great for mixing, stirring, or serving. Never use metal kitchen utensils when working with sourdough. The natural acids will react with aluminum, silver, or steel kitchen utensils, corroding them and ruining the flavor and health of your San Francisco Sourdough Starter.

X - Ray: As your bread dough bakes in the oven, you wish you had an x-ray unit, to see if all is going well inside the baking loaf of bread. Only time will tell. (see consistent crust, see recipe)

Yeast: Yeast is a living, one celled micro-organism and in biology terms, a member of the fungi plant family. Yeast breaks down the simple sugars and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide through the process known as fermentation. Yeast should be stored at 40° F. or below (35° F. is best) and has a heat death point of 120° F. Different strains (types) of yeast are used for different commercial processes, such as making wine, brewing beer and making all types of breads.

Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da: Zip-A-Dee-A, My Oh My, What a wonderful day...! This is the song that you sing, when you open the oven door, and take out a beautiful loaf of your own homemade sourdough bread. Hmmm... Good...!!! (see recipe)

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