Challenging conventional wisdom on a regular basis takes courage and tenacity. In my experience, though, doing so often helps hobbyists of all experience levels view commonly utilized techniques as less intimidating and detail-oriented. With so many beginner and advanced sourdough recipes available nowadays, there are many points at which home bakers could panic over small details and either give up or make mistakes. In response, a number of bloggers have chosen to present their perspectives on sourdough baking as an evolving journey of incorporating discoveries that result from challanging conventional wisdom.

“Experiment time!”

This week’s featured baker has made a name for himself both on Youtube and his blog by challenging commonly accepted dough preparation and baking methods in order to help his fellow home bakers “get the most out of every ingredient.” Sune Trudslev, a Denmark-based software engineer, guitar enthusiast, and all-around foodie has inspired me and many of my fellow bakers to take a simplified approach to our sourdough baking and bake our best breads.

So without further ado, it is my honor to present to you Sune “Foodgeek” Trudslev.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): How long have you been baking sourdough bread? / What came first your passion or cooking or baking?

Sune: I started seriously venturing into sourdough baking around January 2018. I spent about 6 months baking so often it was humanly possible and I put my first article ‘Sourdough bread for beginners’ out around late summer that year. My passion for baking started when I was a kid. I would be home alone in the afternoons and since my mom would bake bread, we had everything needed to make it, so around 9 years old I found a recipe book and started baking. My passion for cooking didn’t come until my late 20’s.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): Who were your inspirations when you were getting started with your sourdough journey?

Sune: I had a keen eye at Maurizio Leo and his site ‘The Perfect Loaf‘ 

Barry (The Brewed Palate): What do you find unique about sourdough baking in Denmark?

Sune: I don’t know if there’s anything unique about it. Covid-19 has changed the world and many many people have been introduced to the wonders of the tamagotchi like being: the sourdough starter. Many bakeries in Denmark have started to change from just adding “sourdough taste” into bread, to using actual starters. I think that’s a wonderful development.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): Your blog has a lot of great tools that make sourdough baking approachable and practical. What factors went into your decision to create your own baking calculator/s etc.?

Sune: All my calculators started out of necessity. I found some tools online, but they didn’t really do everything that I wanted or needed, and since my professional background is in software engineering, it was easy for me to make them myself.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): As a long time homebrewer (beer, mead, and cider) and homecook, watching your YouTube videos and then utilizing your Baking Calculator to create a recipe and get started on my personal sourdough baking journey seemed more practical then strictly following a “beginner sourdough recipe.” In your opinion, what is the most practical approach to getting started with baking sourdough bread?

Sune: Well, my first recipe for sourdough bread for beginners had a lot of structure to it, but I didn’t really have enough experience to see what was important and what wasn’t. Baking sourdough bread is about cultivating an awesome starter. Taking a simple formula and following a few rules and then you can have awesome bread. That’s what I am trying to show on my youtube channel. Things don’t have to be complicated or dogmatic. That goes for life too.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): How long have you had your YouTube channel? / How has your approach to sourdough baking changed as a result of your channel’s steady growth?

Sourdough Experiment Playlist

Sune: I started my channel on the 30th of March 2019. My approach to sourdough hasn’t changed, but my methods have changed a lot because of all the testing I have done. My methods are so much simpler now.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): What are some of your future plans for your Youtube channel and blog?

Sune: I plan on making more recipes and conducting more experiments. I also plan to branch out into other baking and food related things and hope to take my current followers with me. Currently the most important thing for me is to be able to make a sustainable channel that I can do full time, but obviously things take time. 

Barry (The Brewed Palate): How often do you bake during the average week?

Sune: I usually bake 2 times a week, they are either for videos or testing for later videos. At some point I hope to be doing this every day and be able to try out more things.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): From watching your videos I’ve realized that we share a common interest in baking with rye. What do you like most about baking with rye? and What are some tips that you’d give for baking with it?

Sune: Rye is a difficult beast, but it is so, so tasty. Our national bread in Denmark is a 100% rye bread which is eaten almost every day by most Danes. If you just want the delicious taste of rye, just replace 20% with whole grain rye. Your bread will be tastier and more sour as well.

Barry (The Brewed Palate): What are your favorite food and bread pairings?

Sune: Food and bread pairings? An awesome garlic naan with some indian food. A slice of toasted tangy sourdough bread with some delicious cheese. 

Barry (The Brewed Palate): Sourdough bread is often called “living bread.” What do the terms “living bread” and “living food” mean to you?

Sune: Food is an essential part of what it means to be a human. They say that some people eat to live, but others live to eat. I am the latter kind. I love to try everything in the world, it gives me joy. Food is also the thing that brings people together. I love to cook for others and create a wonderful place for discovery and sharing of ideas. Bread is food, just one of the more awesome ones. Bread goes with almost anything.

Thank you Sune for all that you’ve done and continue to do for the worldwide sourdough community! May your unique and practical way of presenting sourdough baking to your followers continue to bring you much success and be an inspiration to increasingly more home bakers.