Wonderful article, and enjoyed the aside about your doctor sister. I started making sourdough again about 2 months ago, and accidentally combined a couple of recipes for my first loaf, which was my best for a while, so went back to that combo. What I did was an initial autolyse with 100% hydration of bread flour and water. I also make a 100% hydration of the flour in the sourdough starter (levin), so they were easy to mix together after the autolysis process, as the same texture. Then I added the rest of the flour and the salt, to make an 80% hydration dough. Adding that extra bit of flour later did not change the elasticity of the dough. I then did the first rise, etc. One time my starter needed some time to reactivate, and I mixed the autolyse too early, so it had a 24 hour time to sit. It started to make some bubbles, and while it was not my favorite of the breads, my husband thought that batch had the best flavor.

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