Sourdough experiment

My newest bread experiment is sourdough. I was not sure about starting a starter, but it is very easy. A starter is just equal parts of flour and water. Its a 4 day process, each day at about the same time you trash 1/2 a cup, and replace it with 1/2 a cup of water and flour.  After the 4 days this is what it will look like.

The question then becomes why would I work this hard on yeast. The simple answer is flavor. But I was not sure if it was all hype or not. So I had to try it out. After some research I found this recipe. The dough looked a little different to me, but I hoped it would work out.

The result was two large boules. The smell was different, and we could not wait to cut into them. The smell has a slightly sour flavor. The bread also has the same slightly sour flavor, but its not so much that it tastes bad.

Overall I think this process is well worth the time and work. The great part is once you have a starter started, you can put in the fridge and "feed" it once a week.