This was the perfect addition to my favorite quarantine hobby-raising and feeding my sourdough starter. I followed some of the suggestions in this manual, but not all. I give it 3.5 stars just for the pure fun.

Have not had a chance to read this yet, but will keep it on my list for a rainy day! Appreciate being offered the reading copy!

How to raise a loaf? A good question! Never in my life imagining making my own bread from scratch. They got the ready made packages, just add some ingredients. Or there's this yeast you can pour into your dough. Or simply bought one ready made. 

But this book taught me a lot on the famous sourdough bread. At least I can see the difference from other breads. Having lived in the southern France, I know fougasse quite well. And mentioned in this book, I was convinced that this is the real deal. 

Am waiting for the motivation to make one arrive, meanwhile I'm gonna pored over this book a few more times.

This was a lovely book.  I got into bread baking, and my natural extension, sourdough starter, during the quarantine.  My starter, Jane Dough, lives in the refrigerator and gets regular feeding.  I'm an experienced bread maker, but the sourdough loaves gave me some trouble.
This book helped a lot.  It walks through the techniques step-by-step, which would be especially helpful for new bakers.  The pictures were very good, and it makes a difference to see pictures of the steps instead of just the finished product.  5 stars.

Thanks to Laurence King Publishing Ltd and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was unable to download this onto my device :(  I do feel like perhaps the cover is a little busy with all the writing.  Hopefully, this feedback will be helpful best of luck.

How to Raise a Loaf gives step by step information on making sourdough.  It offered so many tips and techniques to give bakers confidence.  While I will probably still stick mainly to basic bread making, I highly recommend this book for those who feel overwhelmed by the sourdough process.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This is a really great sourdough guide! would love to own a copy, has some really great tips!

I really enjoyed this one. With bread making being such a popular activity just this quarantine, this book was exactly what I needed. Well written and very informative.

Brilliant book! Made my first ever loaf! Full of information on bread making! And made it fun! Must read for all bread makers!

This is perfect for an aspiring Paul Hollywood. It gives all the basics of how to cultivate a starter to begin your journey into the world of sourdough and then goes on to detail a number of amazing recipes you can use your starter in to become a bread connoisseur.

I really enjoyed this book. Like many others, I have started to make sourdough bread during the pandemic lockdowns. I liked all the recipes in the book and can't wait to try all of them! The ingredients listed in the book are easy to find, staple ingredients, which is definitely a plus for me. The pictures in the book are also very amazing (and looks mouth-watering). The only thing I found that bothered me a little was the use of Celsius instead of Fahrenheit for the oven temperature as this book is for the UK audience. 
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review!

This is a gorgeous book with lots of good information for bakers of all skill levels who want to make bread.  The book covers the basic through the intricacies of bread baking! This is such a well written resource for starting into making your own bread.

"How to raise a loaf and fall in love with sourdough" by Roly Allen is a sweet little book that introduces you into the art of baking your bread without yeast. Instead it focuses solely on - you've guessed it - sourdough. So when my eyes fell onto this book on the NetGalley book shelf, I had to request a copy: even though I am baking bread since I moved out, I decided to advance to sourdough this year. Furthermore, Austria has a lovely bread culture and there is a lot to explore. Thus, reading a book about all things sourdough that spreads the love of this type of bread seemed only fitting!

"How to raise a loaf" is has a simple structure and is split into three parts:

"Getting started" gives you all the information about bread and grain in a simple way and understandable way. It further elaborates on the equipment that you need in order to create your own tasty bread. As well as how to create your own starter - probably the most vital part of baking a sourdough bread!

Furthermore, he goes the extra mile and explains everything fool prove. Thus, how to correctly knead and fold a bread is explained with photos and in details. This way it is suddenly easy to learn how to create a nice and airy product! It also presents the easiest of recipes that any rookie bread baking can start with.

However, the starter method that Allen uses was foreign to me. Since I always use a very simple option of only water and wholewheat flour. This is further elaborated in the next chapter:

"Getting creative" - also includes a list of alternative ways to create a starter. The vegan method is the only traditionally used where I live. As well as some starter options that had been foreign to me: see dark chocolate starter!

Additionally, Allen elaborates on optional equipment that might help your bread baking journey. There is also a troubleshooting guide, as well as tips and ideas that you can do with your bread. Sprinkle the top with flour? You got it! The troubleshooting guide really covers all the common problems you might encounter.

Last but hardly least are the recipes. These range from very simple recipes to complex and creative ones. The "oat and apple bread" had me gasping but it is an idea that I had not considered before. Then there are creative recipes like sourdough pizza and tomato sauce bread, as well as poppy seed white sourdough rolls - which I want to try! They range from easy ones where you only need your trusty flour and starter to trickier ones.

In conclusion, I enjoyed reading "How to raise a loaf and fall in love with sourdough". The writing is easy and after a brief introduction it focuses on the main task: baking bread. It is meant for total baking beginners with a vague idea of what sourdough is and it helps these people to find their way in the world of bread.

Another good book on how to start a sourdough mix but this one only includes 15 recipes to follow once you have your starter.

Also includes techniques and how to get started.  Plenty of colour photography throughout.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

I loved how this cookbook wasn't just a cookbook but had a story to go along with it. If you are new to sourdough this is a wonderful book for you. I tried the basic loaf and it turn our amazing. The book had wonderful step by step photos and lets you know everything you need to get your own sourdough journey going and fall in love with baking this masterpiece. 

Thank you for the NetGalley and Laurence King Publishing Ltd for my eARC of this wonderful cookbook in exchange for my honest review.

Like many of the country at the moment, we have become a little obsessed with baking our own bread. I laso think I'm a little late of the sourdough party and was hoping this would give me the introduction that I needed to make my own sourdough baby.

I was not disappointed, I found it the perfect introduction to the work of bread and sourdough. pictures are clear and beautifully shot, there enoug technical information to help you understand why things are done and when. Perfect introduction guide for any new baker (Poppy Seed rolls are addictive!)

I consume anything having to do with baking sourdough so I super enjoyed through here and perusing the beautiful photos. Have marked a few recipes to try, looking forward to it.

In the past few years we have heard about sourdough everywhere. I have yet to try baking it myself but I have friends who are addicted to it and have been jealous one too many times over seeing their delicious looking loaves and it is time I gave it a go myself.
This book will be a great help, with step by step guides and easy to follow instructions. Once you get the hang of the basic starter and sour dough, there are alternatives, different flavours and ingredients to try, and ideas for presentation and fillings/toppings.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sourdough baking is not easy, just ask all of us who are jumping on the lockdown bandwagon who are starting baking and caring for our little sourdough starters. In fact, ask professional bakers and they will tell you that the weather, the temperature of your oven, even your mood will affect your bread making success! 

Looking for a step by step guide, I came across 'How to Raise a Loaf' by Roly Allen. I wasn't disappointed. The author himself writes that his aim is to simplify sourdough and make it easy for anyone to make a good homely, if not professional, loaf. 

Sourdough is a commitment - not just keeping your starter alive and happy, but the patience of turning your dough and letting it rise. This recipe book gives you a 'faster' recipe which can be baked in a day, and then the more professional version which takes the more usual two day period. There's nothing more disappointing than having a sourdough disaster - a big heavy block that even the bread knife cannot infiltrate. This beginner's book gives you confidence to make a sourdough loaf, and then shows you how to progress to the next level. 

After the instructions come the tempting recipes, and the photography helps to set the taste buds tingling. I'm going to be trying Grissini, sourdough pizzas, sun-dried tomato and olive. bread, poppyseed rolls and an amazing looking provencal fougasse with green and black olives. 

This might not be the only sourdough book I use, but it might just be the one I turn to the most. 

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in return for an honest opinion.

The title of this book “How to raise a loaf and fall in love with sourdough.” was aptly named (I was a love-struck, drooling fool by the end of the book). 
  
In contemplating a first-time sourdough bake-off, I was happy to have had an opportunity to look through and review this book. It certainly is a "meat and potatoes" book on the baking of sourdough loaves - from the anatomy of a grain, techniques and equipment needed, tips, tricks, troubleshooting…getting creative, to the actual recipes themselves.

While I found parts of the book a little too “scientific or technical” in nature for me personally (e.g. the anatomy of a grain), those that like to really get in-depth about a topic, you will truly appreciate the latter.  However, that being said, I was still very grateful and appreciative of the detailed information that was provided in some parts of the book – e.g. basic starter method, what you need to make your starter. 

One of the most interesting parts of the book I found, was the folding and kneading techniques.  Hats off to Roly Allen for including detailed photographs to go with typed instructions! User-friendly at its best…

As to what I found to be most helpful…that would be the section on: tips, tricks and troubleshooting.  We have them for our gadgets, so why not for baking???

Of course the pièce de résistance of the entire book, is the recipes themselves.