I've been experimenting with sour dough recently too, and I can add a couple thoughts:
I got my starter in the easiest possible way: I got prepared starter from someone else. No waiting, hoping to catch the wild yeast, which isn't always a sure thing. I've already passed it on to a couple other people -- partially out of the goodness of my heart, but also because IF I should ruin my own starter, I'd be able to ask for a little bit back.
I've tried several recipes, but my best results have been from the New York Times no-knead recipe, which is also super-easy:
Whisk together:
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 - 2 1/2 cups white bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
Stir in:
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup sourdough starter
Cover and let sit 12-18 hours (on top of the refrigerator is a perfect, slightly warm place).
Turn onto lightly floured countertop, turn over a few times to incorporate a little flour -- the dough will be much wetter and more sticky than traditional bread, and this makes it look more average.
Shape into a round or a loaf and let rise another 2 hours. Setting it on a piece of wax paper or parchment will make things easier later. Do not skimp on time; that's the key to really good bread.
Details matter when baking:
Preheat your oven AND a cast iron Dutch oven (or other heavy casserole dish with lid) to 450.
Slide the bread into the preheated pan. It will sizzle, which means you're starting a lovely brown crust.
Bake 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes.
This bread is head-and-shoulders better than any other sourdough I've baked myself. The inside is thick and chewy -- I want to say dense, but that sounds negative. It's hearty. The crust is a lovely brown. I think it would make great bread bowls for soup, but I haven't tried that yet.
I am playing with lowering the temperature.
I'm also going to buy a clay loaf-shaped pan with a lid. I can bake round loaves in my cast iron dutch oven, but I want to be able to make loaf bread for sandwiches.
And a question:
How do y'all store home-baked bread? I'm just keeping it in a ziplock on the countertop, but that looks messy. A Tupperware container would be a step up, but still is less than idea. My mom always had a bread box, and I'm thinking about buying one. But they aren't air-tight, are they? Bugs would be attracted in, so the bread would still need to be kept in some type of container, right?