My very first sourdough
I have recently tried sourdough, and was really encouraged when on the second day I had bubbles. My old earthenware crock was previously used to make saurkraut. I put in one cup of strong bread flour, one cup of spelt and 2 1/2 cups of tepid tap water, covered it with a glass plate and left it to find yeast.
The starter smelled more yeasty and less sour after a week. Instead of discarding starter when feeding I used it, but I have yet to get a loaf I am satisfied with. I know how to make bread, so that is not an issue. I have made the exact same bread weekly for many years, But I have also learned a lot since I have become interested in trying variations. Thanks for this site.
I let the dough rise twice before putting it in pans and it takes forever. So two days ago I put my dough in the fridge overnight and put it into pans in the morning....The dough had some condensation and a bit of drying as well. After all day in a proofing oven it was still having a hard time rising. I sprayed it periodically with oil so it wouldn't dry out. It turned brown after baking, even though I used mostly white flour. The end result was a flattish heavy loaf that tastes good, but I would like it to be lighter. That way I could put the saw back in the garage. I think I will start adding a teaspoon of yeast so I get the taste without all the waiting.
When doing research about how to go about doing this I noticed that some people start their sourdough with real yeast. Is this a bad thing?