While there's definitely room for improvement, I was delighted by how my second attempt at homemade sourdough bread turned out.
The little monster (my sourdough starter) has gotten a lot more sour, likely owing to a healthy culture of lactic acid bacteria. In fact, my last 2-3 pizza attempts lacked the rise of my initial success, possibly suggesting an imbalance between LAB and yeast...? [To be investigated! ... by somehow creating a more aerobic environment...?]
I took the advice of using a regular (but good!) bread recipe and adjusting for the amount of sourdough starter added. Thus, following ForTheFeast's recipe for A Simple Italian Bread, I baked my second sourdough loaf as follows:
I mixed (or quasi-kneaded), in a large bowl, 1.5 cups of starter (which had been maintained with plain flour), 1.5 cups of wholewheat flour, 1/2 cup water, and a sprinkle of salt. The dough was patted into a ball and coated generously with olive oil. It was allowed to rest for 45-60mins and baked at 190C as is (in the ball shape), following a cross scoring at the top. It was baked for ~50mins.
Result:
Texture: It was about half as dense as the first attempt, though (according to my family's taste), it still needs to be fluffier and chewier.
Taste: The sourness was very distinctive. Excellent with (genuine) butter and Australian leatherwood honey.
