I've joined the sourdough bandwagon, and I'm getting halfway decent at it. I make one loaf at a time, usually twice a week. And I also make my pizza dough this way now.
Homemade sourdough does not taste sour. Sourdough is a weird misnomer IMHO.
Hands on kitchen time is probably < 30 minutes, but there are lots of 2 minute tasks spread throughout a few days, so I can see why people don't have the patience for it, especially if you're working full time. This is more a retirement lifestyle thing.
The photos are from a 20% whole wheat recipe loaf I made today using this recipe https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2020/06/whole-wheat-sourdough-bread/
Main things I've learned.
- Feed your starter 1 day before you start baking if you keep it in the fridge. let it be around 70-75F for a day before you use it.
- I tuck my starter jar behind my small beverage fridge when the house is too cold. The compressor/condenser in the back throws off the right amount of heat
- use a scale and weigh to the gram per the recipe(s)
- mix water with starter first (using a fork is fine), then pour it into a large bowl containing the measured salt and flour
- hand mix with a danish whisk to combine everything.
- 1st day, do the quarter-turn folds and rise until doubled, put in fridge overnight covered so it won't dry out.
- 2nd day, remove from fridge, let warm for 30 minutes then do the two long folds/roll/ball technique twice at least 30 minutes apart while oven preheats.
- the flour dusting and basket release seems to work a lot better by doing it the 2nd day
- dough ball doesn't have to be fully doubled before baking, but should be at least 50% bigger
- other than that, follow the directions and techniques in the video below
