Keeping a sourdough starter and trying to make your own bread that will measure up to professional bakers is a lot of work. You have to both have a lot of time on your hands and actually enjoy bread baking.
I had a starter I kept alive for a year or so and it was sort of like having a small, mildly troublesome pet. It was fun, but eventually I just didn't have the time to keep baking and was happier paying $5 for a good loaf of bread.
I still sometimes make bread, but usually a fairly straightforward multigrain bread with commercial yeast (following a recipe I worked out myself after experimenting my way through 10 loaves of bread).
Getting a good crust was always the most difficult part for me and is what tends to separate the really good bread bakers from the rest of us. At some point I gave up and just started using loaf pans so I didn't have to worry so much about it.
Have you ever baked bread before?
The thing about bread baking is technique is much more important than you might think before you've done it.
What makes the difference between most loaves of bread is not the recipe. The recipe for basic bread is simple: flour, water, salt, yeast (and often a little sugar and oil), plus time and heat.
Yes, there are different types of flour, and you can use commercial yeast or your own sourdough starter, and you can use milk instead of water or different oils or honey, etc. etc.
But the difference between a mediocre loaf and a great loaf is how you put the ingredients together, how you make the dough, and how you bake it.
The Bread Bible is a great book if you are interested in really getting into this.
The book is not focused on sourdough specifically, although it does have one chapter on sourdough and some good advice. It is most valuable for explaining the various techniques to use and why to use them.
Also, google 'sourdough starter' for plenty of free advice. You'll note there are many differing opinions about how to create and keep one. I started out with one of the pancake batter types, but once it had been alive for a few weeks, I kept it as a piece of dampish dough in the fridge. It needed less feeding that way.
Last edited by jb9; 02-08-2012 at 04:02 PM.