my first sourdough bread

my first sourdough bread using 5 days old starter raised in sunny Queensland, Australia

I am new to sourdough berad.  A big thank-you to Susan of wild yeast.  I followed her Overnight Ciabatta recipe loosely.  But as someone said, "it isn't the recipe that will make or break...so much as the technique used in dealing with the ingredients," it really isn't easy for a beginner especially when the ingredients are so simple - flour, water and a few microorganisms in the air.  As you can see from the top picture, the bottom of my bread is dense.  I was quite scared when I was folding the dough and as a result I probably didn't do as good a job in that.  Another reason for the dense bottom crumb could be that it didn't proof completely before it went into the bake.   It is very hard for a beginner to judge - the recipe might say, "proof one hour", how about my room temp, how well did the dough ferment before that... all of these play a mystical part in the final product unbeknown to the beginner.

And, thank-you, too, to cleancarpetman.  I read his "Freedom!!" before I finally decided I should put all the books and reseach aside and just do it.  One day I will get the ryhthm of the process. 

The flavour of the bread was beautiful though - mildly sour, soft, and full of life.  It has the complexity in flavour that factory white bread cannot dream of.  Both of my son and daughter loved it.  How do a 14 year-old and a 16 year-old know these things. 

Shiao-Ping