I have never used sourdough, partly because I'm afraid I won't maintain it and partly because I hate the waste of starter! But I was wondering why you add yeast to the dough. I thought the starter was the leavening agent.
You can definitely go without yeast - it just prolongs the rising time a lot if you rely on the wild yeast in the sourdough to do all the "heavy lifting." For some, the point of sourdough is its flavor, rather than its rising qualities, so yeast is added to speed things up. And don't worry about maintaining starter- it's very flexible and quite forgiving. I pay attention to mine once every 3 months or so, and it just keeps plugging along... Give it a try - I'm betting you'll find it interesting and quite a lot of fun. PJH
April 29, 2011 at 6:51pm