There is nothing mystic or difficult about sourdough. There just isn't. This is how people baked for centuries. They did it without a bunch of fancy stuff. However, they also had the benefit of clean flour grown made with wheat grown without chemicals in a soil rich in microbes. We are losing that, and the farther we get from a healthy soil the more difficult real food becomes. It makes sense to buy the very best flour you can find or the best wheat you can find and mill your own. Consider that a loaf of nearly-passable bread costs over $5 and a bag of good flour that makes 4-5 loaves costs about the same price. You can't go wrong. Keep it simple. Keep it basic. We are following a well-trodden path here. Our ancestors knew these things long before us. They are speaking to us through our baking and our love of food and family. Your starter is speaking a simple language thousands and thousands of years old. All you need to do is listen.

Anyway , the ultimate test of bread for me is the degree of interest my cat, Martin, will display in obtaining it against my wishes. I know it's good if he drags the entire loaf off the counter under the table and chews pieces off of it. There are very, very few commercial breads that meet this standard.

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