The Perfect Loaf: Sourdough Recipes

Great bread begins with a great starter and when it comes to sourdough starter, temperature is everything! The complex mix of microbes that cause bread to rise (and give your bread a distinctive flavor and aroma) are extremely sensitive to their environment. The Sourdough Home provides an easy way to precisely control the behavior of your starter. With degree-by-degree control from 41-122°F (5-50°C) you can maintain a consistent temperature or vary it to control the growth rate, aroma, and flavor of your bread. You can switch the temperature display from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

The inside of the proofer measures 5-1/8" x 5.5" x 7.5" which allows a 1 quart jar or two smaller jars to fit inside. Two shelves are included for flexible storage of small items.

As acclaimed sourdough baker Maurizio Leo from the Perfect Loaf blog explains in the video above "It's important that a sourdough starter is maintained in a consistent way, but the challenge there is that the temperature in your kitchen, even from one side of the kitchen to the other, can vary quite drastically... one of the great things about the Sourdough Home is that it allows you to effortlessly dial in the temperature that you want to keep your sourdough starter at."

The Sourdough Home by Brod & Taylor offers a convenient, quiet, and compact way to maintain the temperature of your sourdough starter at the exact temperature you want to keep it at, whether that's a warm environment as you're preparing to bake with it, or a cool environment if you want to store it between bakes. The Sourdough Home both cools and heats, so you have total flexibility with how often you want to feed your starter, whether that's twice a day or once a week, or anywhere in between.

Sourdough starter is a living colony of yeast and good bacteria. Like any living thing it needs to eat—just flour and water. Feeding your starter the proper ingredients at the right time is the first step in creating great sourdough bread. Using the precise temperature control of the Sourdough Home, you can adjust starter feeding times to meet your schedule.

As starter ferments and grows, it creates CO₂ bubbles that cause the mixture to rise in its container. The ideal time to feed starter is when the rise has peaked—all of its food has been consumed—and before it begins to fall again. By using a constant seed ratio (quantity of flour and water) and controlling the temperature, you can control the feeding schedule to hours, days or even a week. Use the guidelines below to get started.

In a small town in Western Massachusetts, Brod & Taylor was founded on a passion for making wholesome food from scratch. Their products transform this often challenging process into a simple pleasure by blending innovative design with simplicity, affordability, and outstanding customer support.

The Brod & Taylor Dough Proofer makes wholesome, made-from-scratch baking easier than ever with an optimum proofing environment plus easy storage. Set it lower for a longer “cool rise” or turn up the heat to give your yeast a boost on a cold winter day. A large window gives you a full view of the spacious interior where your largest bowl or full sized loaves fit easily. There’s no need to cover your dough as the included water tray keeps humidity at an optimum level.

The innovative Brod and Taylor folding bread proofer accurately maintains the temperature you set, in the range of 70–195°F (21–90C), in five degree increments. Its cabinet is built of super tough reinforced polypropylene with a clear viewing window. The stainless steel wire rack, power cord and all other parts fit inside the proofer when folded. Inside dimensions are 14.75” x 12.5” x 8.75” high. Outside dimensions are (open): 18” x 14.5” x 10.5” high and (closed): 18” x 14.5” x 2.75” high, so it stores very easily.

Included with the Brod and Taylor Bread Proofer & Slow Cooker is a 55-page booklet with recipes for yeast breads, sourdough, yogurt, butter, cheese, kefir, kombucha, tempeh, and slow-cooker recipes like chuck roast, pulled pork and caramelized "black" garlic.

Pizza dough... artisan sourdough... yogurt... the Brod and Taylor dough proofing box provides a warm, humid environment for more consistent results with rising yeast dough recipes. These include organic whole grain recipes, made-from-scratch bread loaves, pastries, gluten-free yeast bread recipes, soft pretzels, doughnuts, focaccia, cinnamon rolls, and croissants, to name a few. The Brød and Taylor bread proofer is also the ultimate yogurt maker, developing perfect yogurt in either one large, or several smaller containers. Nothing's easier than making delicious yogurt at home with this machine.

In addition to its outstanding core performance as a dough proofer, this versatile Brod and Taylor product is also a slow cooker, yogurt maker, hot plate and more!

Brod and Taylor's innovative bread proofing box is a multi-use kitchen tool ideal for home bread bakers—or anyone with an appreciation for scratch recipes, organic cooking and wholesome ingredients. Designed as the ultimate solution for rising yeast dough, the proofer’s consistent low-heat also works as a yogurt maker, chocolate tempering machine, bread crisper, plate warmer and more.

When your bread's been finished, your Brod and Taylor proofer is the ideal bread warmer, keeping it at perfect serving temperature. One elegant, easy-storing appliance does it all, conveniently and efficiently. It’s a great new tool for any kitchen where homemade baking is enjoyed, and it has really taken off among our customers at Pleasant Hill Grain.

The Brod and Taylor bread proofer now has a slow cooker mode! In slow cooker mode, temperatures may be set between 85–195°F (29–90C), in five degree increments. For slow cooking recipes that recommend a low setting in traditional slow cookers, set the temperature to the maximum setting of 195°F. Always use a lid on the pot when slow cooking. The rack and water tray are not used when slow cooking. For best results, use a heavy duty Dutch oven or stock pot with a tight fitting lid. Maximum dimensions for a slow cooker pot are 11.5" diameter and 8.75" high, including handles and lid.

One of the things we like most about the Brod and Taylor bread proofer is the toughness of its construction. Between the details of the design and the quality of its materials, our experience—after an extended period of offering this product—is that breakage is a non-issue. It assembles very quickly, feels solid, and truly is a rugged, reliable performer. We've used one in the PHG test kitchen for years and endorse it enthusiastically.

Michael Taylor, an engineer and longtime bread baker, is well acquainted with the homespun solutions bakers have tried in search of a more controlled dough rise. An inventor at heart, Taylor saw a real problem that needed a remedy. Home bakers needed a tool that offered the confidence and convenience of a professional proofer in an affordable, versatile, space-saving design. After years of careful research and testing he created the world’s first folding home proofer, and it's truly an outstanding product.

Cook's Illustrated recommends the Brod and Taylor folding proofer, finding that it performs well and is easy to use and clean.