Does anyone seriously enjoy sourdough?

So, joy of joys, given this thread, DH came back from getting the car cleaned with a loaf of rye sourdough from a decent bakery. I had a soft poached egg with black pepper and avocado . The sour taste goes perfectly with the richness of the yolk which oozes out and into all the air holes and the bread has the body to soak it up without going soggy. Yum,
Then, thanks to this thread causing me to fixate, I have just crept back for another toasted slice. Pudding. I have before me a slice of magnificence: a golden crisp crust with a gleaming layer of homemade apricot jam I was given for my birthday which has collected in the holes like pools of liquid amber. It is just so good. A battle of the deepest, sweetest apricot resisted by the tart undertone of apricot which is joined in battle by the tangy sourdough.And that’s before I start on the textures: crunch, bounce, ooze. So simple and so perfect.

The supermarket sliced bread that people think of as being “normal” bread is not actually proper bread. It’s a supermarket invention that was introduced in the 1960s (or earlier) and has all sorts of odd ingredients that you should not find in bread.

It’s all about what you are used to eating. My dd was chewing on hunks of sourdough when she was 12 months so that kind of bread, as well as heavier rye bread, is her normal now as a teen. We eat it not because we are “posh” or any other reason other than that to us that is bread - the supermarket stuff that comes in plastic bags is not.

Don’t like the sour taste- even toasted.

We've got a local bakery that makes great sourdough. Have it as toast most mornings.

No it's the worst type of bread ever

I buy a particular seeded sourdough from a small supplier and it's the best bread I've ever tasted. I don't eat sandwiches though. Always toasted. Love it with eggs and chilli oil. I don't eat any other bread now, even supermarket sourdough is very much second rate.

I don't generally eat wheat bread just rye bread but don't mind rye sourdough which is a mixture of rye and wheatflour, I think

What is interesting is that even in France I have noticed a lot of their bakeries have just as many sourdough baguettes now as the previous cotton wool variety so even the baguette munching French seem to have embraced the joys of sourdough.

This is where we are all different. I would actually struggle to swallow supermarket thick white. I could possibly handle sandwich slice white on a cucumber finger sandwich only because that’s how I was introduced to them.
Some of the Vogels type grainy supermarket breads are ok but not many places stock them now.

@SunshineAndFizz were you listening to the Food Programme on radio 4 yesterday? It was all about bloody sourdough. It crossed my mind to start a thread on MN to say how much I don't like it. I don't like the flavour and it's a jaw breaker

Me too- I get through about half a loaf on the day I buy it and then slice and freeze the rest wrapped in foil- means I can justify the price tag and it’s still great from the freezer toasted.

I’m interested in what people who don’t like sourdough prefer- I do like granary, rye, a good baguette and soda bread. I can also tolerate a white cottage loaf although some are a bit claggy. But I can’t stand stuff like sliced white or 50/50 from a supermarket these days- sounds snobby but I think decent bread has spoiled me for other stuff.

I love it - it’s top tier for toast and toasted sandwiches. I love the crunchiness.

I don’t eat a lot of sandwiches un-toasted but get that it tastes a bit too chewy otherwise.

‘Normal’ supermarket bread tastes bland in comparison now.

Starter is easy and cheap to make at home. https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/

You need a container (I use takeaway containers), a bowl and a scale.

Once the starter is "started" you either need to regularly (every 48 hours) feed it with flour and tepid water OR let it rest in the fridge. My regularly rests in the fridge for periods of 3 months or more between feedings. It does separate out and a dark liquid firms on top, but unless it goes furry, it's fine to continue using. My starter is currently 8 years old and I was given it off someone so it's actually older than that.

Every time you make a loaf, you use some but not all of the starter. And you keep the starter alive by feeding it, which makes it grow.

Oh sorry a scale and a spoon and some sea salt too

The starter is just flour and water in a jar, you then just need a big bowl, a cloth, a baking tray and you're away!

Try BBC Good Food White Sourdough. Be It talks you through the whole process (I don't use sugar not sure if this one does).

I like it with soup, pate or soft cheese. Prefer malted brown for a sandwich and proper cheap ass white bread for toast!

@Uselesssil all you need is a jar, spoon, big bowl, wooden spoon and a kitchen scale (mine is Ikea for 6 pounds). Then a loaf pan or baking sheet. The reddit sourdough forum has a good step by step.

I like it and would love to make it at home. However the cost of a starter (as well as the other equipment needed) is very expensive, and with not being an experienced bread maker, I’m worried that it would be a waste of money.

To be honest, I don’t really understand how the starter works and some being 40 years old!

It's all I buy. I love it lightly toasted and buttered with poached eggs on spinach and some chilli oil.

Yes, definitely! But then I grew up in a culture of proper, chewy bread, not this soft, industrial fluff most people here eat and even cut the crusts off that!

My DH has made sourdough weekly since 2016, it’s the only bread we eat - so glad to be done with that gross UPF supermarket stuff!

exDP made some and it was absolutely amazing. Never had shop-bought sourdough that I liked though .

Love it. I buy it fresh from the local bakery, slice it then freeze, wrapped in portions. It makes amazing toast. Our local bakery has won awards for its sourdough.

The lining of my mouth hates sourdough, and I've got a sensitive molar (the dentist says there's nothing much wrong with it) that goes off on one if I bite down the wrong way, so it's not my favourite. When I was younger and gravitated towards everything crunchy and chewy I suspect I'd have been a proper sourdough snob.