yes its easy to do. Just mix some flour and water together, and leave it on a shelf with a lid on loosely and after a few days it will start to hubble and bubble ! each one is a bit different because they utilise yeast from the air. So what is floating around your kitchen will probably end up inside it. Not something to do if you have the dreaded virus, I suppose.
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Sounds easy enough - I’ll do that! Haha no don’t have the virus thanks goodness, god that would be awful to have a sourdough full of CV!! Thanks 
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Get mixing Jessie !
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Given the different varieties of yeasts and baking style, I think an SE23 sourdough bake off competition is in order (post-Corona).
In lock down I find myself craving fresh bread. This thread has really sparked my interest in baking my own
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I’m sort of thinking this might also be a good activity with children - though for my little ones I wouldn’t count on it not just devolving into ‘messy play’ followed by ‘Dad cleans up’.
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If you like bread worth checking out Hollys post about community bread making in Forest Hill.
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Thanks to @Beige. First loaf has been made. Very pleased. Thanks for the nice easy to follow steps too. As others have said, I’m now struggling to find flour but hopefully it will start coming back into stock soon.
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looks like one tasty loaf !
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That looks great - you are a natural!
If I make a standard yeasty loaf I would always add oil but most sourdough recipes don’t mention it.
I though the oil was supposed to help keep it fresh longer.
Does anyone add it to sourdough?
I’ve always followed Dan Lepard’s method, and he does not use oil. Also, I find that sourdough seems to last much longer than other breads before either going hard or blue - do you find the same?
His method, including making your own starter, is here.
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No I find it goes stale quite quickly which is why I wondered…
Cheers for the link though I’ll take a butchers
So, first attempt of baking using the starter I started just over a week ago, and pretty chuffed with this! Thanks for all the inspiration and advice here, most useful!
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That looks great for any attempt let alone a first go!
I made a right old hash of one yesterday, it’s tastes ok but it is a little on the dense side!
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Looks great, every reason to be chuffed with that.
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You are an instant expert. It is so much better than my first go.
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Too kind! Thank you though
Here’s a sourdough tip I read this morning. Untested by me but sounds a good step in quality control.
‘Homemade bread can be very solid, especially sourdough (Russell’s tip: make sure your starter culture is lively enough by dropping a spoonful of it into water before you start; it should float).’
I just watched a video with that tip in!
I think I made the simple mistake of making bread first thing in the morning and got my ratios all wrong…
Must wake up properly first!
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