It Took Me About 3 Weeks to Get It Right

this is sourdough bread, made completely without yeast

For the first 3 weeks of eating my homemade sourdough, our loaves looked something like this -- flat, chewy, and quick to become stale.

from one of the early loaves of sourdough

Then, after some research and reading, I hit upon a technique that enabled my sourdough to get a good rise and develop a smooth texture. For the last couple of weeks, this is what my sourdough bread has been looking like.

sourdough success

This looks like a regular yeast bread, doesn't it? The texture is soft and smooth on the inside and the bread keeps for several days in the pantry. The dough contains some of my starter (which was made with just flour and water), water, flour, 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar. That's it.

You know the saying. . .

if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.