Quote Originally Posted by Erisianmonkey View Post
I wish I could make sourdough. When we lived at our old apartment I used to always keep a starter going.
Instead of capturing a wild culture, stir some flour and water together and add a quarter-teaspoon of yeast. The first few times you use it, it will be pretty bland -- but let's face it, yeast mutates regularly in response to its environment. As you keep using it, it will develop more flavour.

Particularly when you're using sourdough, long room-temperature rises are good. The cooler temperatures put the yeast and lactobacilli on a more even footing, so the sourness can develop before the yeast is blown out.

I find even with yeasted breads that cutting back the dose of yeast and going for long rises really helps develop the flavour and texture.