PastorDIC wrote:
> What are some good books with sourdough recipes?
You've been casting about a bit here lately. You've had problems with
starters, recipes and more. I don't know how familiar you are with
baking in general. If you don't have much experience as a baker, I
suggest you start with simpler yeasted white flour recipes. They are
easier and will help you develop confidence and your techniques.

If you are already experienced as a baker, or once you get that
experience, my strong suggestion is pick A sourdough book or A website
and stick with it. Different people have different ways of dealing with
sourdough, and the methods are often contradictory, causing more
confusion, especially for the less experienced baker.

While the FAQ is a rich document, it represents a number of points of
view and it tends to be confusing to beginners, so I do not recommend it
to beginners. Similarly, the newsgroup can be confusing as different
people here do things differently. There are a lot of people here with
strong opinions, and who will express them - often loudly. That is not
to say one is right or one is wrong. There are many ways to deal with
sourdough, and as long as they allow the baker to produce the breads
they want to make, they can be said to work. But... when one person
says "cat" and another says "dog" and another says "bread fairey" and
another says "use rye" and another says "don't use rye" and another
says... well, a beginner is going to get confused.

Dr. Wood's book is very good at explaining the a set of techniques for
dealing with sourdough and the underlying principles. Some people do
not like his bread recipes, but that is a matter of taste. The book is
still excellent at explaining handling sourdough. I feel that all the
other books from large publishers I have read have severe weaknesses,
usually combining yeast with sourdough which is not necessary, or
understating the importance of maintaining a healthy, viable starter.

Once you have selected A book or A website and have become familiar with
the techniques the author suggests, you can use those techniques to
modify other recipes, and the knowledge to understand how other people
handle sourdough. At that point, you can begin to understand how other
people handle sourdough and decide which techniques work to help you
make the bread you want to make.

Mike