Hi Brian, I applaud your ambition and quest to make the ultimate loaf of sourdough bread; it's certainly a noble ambition that many devoted sourdough bakers share. However in my own quest to make beautiful and delicious sourdough breads, I've discovered that there is no one route to perfection. For me, what keeps sourdough baking fascinating and satisfying and forever challenging is learning about the many, many paths there are to making wonderful sourdough breads. I'm really not trying to dodge your question here, but I honestly wouldn't know what to tell you as far as the perfect process goes. I can tell you about one of my favorite recipes, and walk you through the process here, but this is just one recipe and one way to make sourdough bread, and it may not even align with your own notion of what makes an ideal loaf of sourdough bread. I encourage you to try lots of different recipes, with lots of different processes. Learn as many ways as you can to make sourdough bread, and you are bound to find the method that, for you, leads to the ultimate loaf. Here are a few other recipes I would suggest you add to your journey: Pain Au Levain, Vermont Sourdough, No-Knead Sourdough, Naturally Leavened Sourdough, and Maura's Sourdough Bread (and Martin's version) as featured in Don't Be A Bread Hostage. These are all fairly basic sourdough bread recipes, but when you start exploring recipes that call for other grains, seeds, fruit, olives, cheese or other additions, the possibilities really are endless! Enjoy the journey! 

Barb

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