I have to agree with Mike Avery's assessment of many sourdough books...
just plain wrong. Sourdough bread does not need baker's yeast to rise. If
you begin a starter with baker's yeast it will eventually evolve into the
real thing, but why wait? Ditto fruit yeast. Starters that began this way
will not be stable and will yield inconsistent results until they have
evolved into true sourdough strains. No matter what you begin with, your
sourdough starter will eventually evolve based on what you feed it, not
what you started with.
Many good breads can be made from an acidic liquid starter added to a yeast
bread formula. These can be delicious. But please resist the urge to try
to pass them off as a true sourdough at cocktail parties... think of a more
creative name like "Arizona Mortgage Bread" or "Mom's Diversion Bread" or
"Mike".
An excellent text for sourdough baking is Maggie Glezer's "Artisan Baking
Across America". The method she outlines for beginning, elaborating and
maintaining a sourdough chef approximates the method I've used in my
sourdough bakery for years. I've taught this method to several home bakers
in baking classes and they have had great results. The firm sourdough chef
can be retarded for extended periods of time and refreshed before baking.
And the book's a good read to boot.
Whichever text you choose, stick with it. Allow your starter a couple
weeks to reach equilibrium... this move alone will help you get consistent
results. Make the recipes a couple times and allow your technique to
evolve as well. And don't be discouraged if your bread doesn't look like
the cover shot. Keep baking until it does and ask your questions here!
Greg Carpenter
Petoskey, MI