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I have been working diligently to bake my own sourdough bread from scratch. I haven’t had the success I was hoping for, but I did have an interesting conversation with a machine the other day while trying to learn from expert humans.

I found a person on YouTube who seemed to speak clearly, from experience. Bonus points, she was from a small town in Nova Scotia. To see how and why I bonded with these folks, I’ll share their story as they tell it on their website.

Ashley and Daniel and their two children moved to a few acres of land on the coast of Nova Scotia in 2017, their intention never to farm but with a backseat interest of being self sustainable. The next year they got a couple pigs to raise for their family and what was once a backseat interest became a growing passion to self produce the food they eat and turn it into a sustainable farm. Having no farming background, they were about the discover what they were really in for. Fast forward several years and many growing pains, they now operate on over 300 acres of vast wood and pasture land, with a growing operation of premium cattle. Ash teaches live sourdough classes to a worldwide audience. The kitchen and the milk stanchion are her favourite places to be, while Daniel could spend hours in the field with the cows or in front of his smoker or open fire. Their intention is to continue growing their herds to supply local customers with their beef as well as expanding and developing the surrounding acreage to a flourishing, pasture based, sustainable farm on the coastline of rural Nova Scotia.

Well, I had tried many things to get my starter dough to double in size, but without success. Finally, I met someone I felt a connection with.

I followed her videos faithfully, but still no success. I tried using distilled water. I took into account my altitude – that’s altitude, not attitude! I adjusted the measurements slightly as suggested. No success.

The next step was to buy her book. I downloaded the digital copy and sank into my favourite chair to read it through once. Then I followed the detailed steps. No success.

Okay, enough. I sent an email to her via the ‘contact us’ link on her website. I couldn’t imagine how many emails she receives from her followers. But I wanted to stand out and told her a bit about myself, my bread efforts, and more. I knew it was too much. Below are some short excerpts from my email.

1. Commenting on her YouTube video: The measures given in both imperial and metric units impressed me as an American YouTuber. Then I realized where you were from and found you on the map of Nova Scotia.
   
   
2. After telling her my tale of woe: All this was after I bought your book and followed it faithfully.
   
   
3. Some of the many details: I changed flour to unbleached Red Wheat milled just a month before use.

I received a reply in just a couple of days. How fortunate, I thought. I imagined her at her rolltop desk, tapping out a thoughtful one-off response.

Wrong.

Here is what I received.

Hi There,

Thanks for your support in buying our book!

If you are following that and it is not working it is more than likely your flour. 

Sourdough Needs high high protein for good success.  I am not super familiar with bobs redmill, but i have had clients who did not have success with it. 

I would try a high protein bread flour (central milling if you are in the states). If you are in canada you can use the sutten blend from Milanaise, or even just PC organics all purpose works great for a starter too. 

happy baking!

Ash

The response felt off. I think it was AI-generated. I don’t blame small businesses for using such tools. How else could a busy farming family keep up with all the ‘contact us’ requests?

But.

First, AI couldn’t tell whether I was American or Canadian, so it covered its bases. A human would have taken the times we were living in into account and realized I was a proud Canadian.

Second, there was the obligatory thanks for supporting her by buying her book. This required the equally overused ‘!’

Third, AI couldn’t identify the Red Wheat milled just a month ago. It chose the next best fit and referenced the popular Bob’s Redmill brand.

Fourth, I ended my initial email by mentioning that I would be in Nova Scotia this summer and inquiring whether they offered tours. There was no mention of this in the AI response. 

Stick to the bread, man. Stick to bread.

I replied to the AI’s response with more detailed information. In particular, I told her that my wheat’s protein level was 13.3%, which was above her suggested amount.

I think her setting must send a prompt reply from a customer following an AI response from her to her mail folder labelled “time to read this one yourself.”

Her response was as follows.

You can try adding some rye to your starter to give a kick start. I chat about that on my YouTube. If that is not working then I would recommend purchasing an established starter from somewhere. 

Ash

That felt like a genuine human response. I will follow up and check with a local bakery that specializes in sourdough bread. I even signed up for a course. Maybe, just maybe, they sell a starter. Fingers crossed.

Please give this a bit of a think. Do you have experience of dealing with AI? Was it OK? Helpful? Frustrating?

Please comment by sending me an email with your bit of a think. I am curious about your thoughts.

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