sourdough help- please!

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So- I'm having a go at making some sourdough bread( Daughter eats so much of the stuff from the supermarket now I wanted to make my own).
I have a starter I think is ok BUT every recipe/ top tip I look at seems to contradict the one before, from which flour to use, to refrigerate or not, how long to proof- double/ single/ 30 mins, 3 hours.
If you have an easy recipe that works for you please can you share it?
I feel very overwhelmed- oven is on as we speak- waiting for dough to second proof and I have no idea whether I'm doing this right- I suspect it will be brick like.
Thanks

Hi OP, I make sourdough regularly and only ever use this recipe now www.baked-theblog.com/everyday-sourdough-bread/

Sorry pressed send too soon, it's super easy and quite a wet dough so the end product is nice and light.

OP,I go by the feeling of dough.

Google poke test- it will tell you if your dough is ready to bake.

My time frame is :

feed the starter at night before bedtime(so it’s ready in the morning)
mix bread in the morning (bulk proof usually is done by early afternoon)
shape bread and put in the fridge
Bake following morning

I put mine in the fridge because the end of proofing coincides with my kids coming back from school so have homework then dinner preparation.Cold shaped dough it’s also easier to score.

Principles are the same but timeframe will vary depending on temperature of water and the room the fermentation takes place. Amount of starter is also important as the more you use the shorter fermentation would be.

Sourdough likes it hot.

If you bake it on the stone/tray in the oven put the container with water for the first 15 mins or a couple of icecubes. This is to create steam so the loaf can expand instead of crust solidify too quickly.

Any questions- ask.

Good luck 🙂

@FrenchBoule
Thank you!
My loaf is a bit solid but not as bad as I thought it might be.
Can I ask the ratio of ingredients you use
and how you feed up your starter? Do you have a preferred flour for the starter and dough and is it better in a Dutch oven?

@sqirrelfriends thanks - I thought that looked good and then saw in the comments that some people were saying that the amount of starter used in the recipe was not enough? Then I panicked 😂

This is where I started, it talks you through everything and provides a good grounding

foodbodsourdough.com/

Serious Eats got busy during the first New York lockdown
www.seriouseats.com/2020/05/the-best-flour-for-sourdough-starters-an-investigation.html

www.seriouseats.com/2020/07/how-to-ferment-sourdough.html

www.seriouseats.com/2020/08/sourdough-how-to.html

Lots of pictures

My start recipe is:

50 g of active starter
500g flour
350ml water
10g salt

Hydration( water to flour ratio) is 70%

Different flours have different properties,some of them are milled fine,some are more coarse. This affects the density of dough.I prefer working with one flour now as I know what to expect and my bakes are more consistent.

Starter- I feed it either light rye or rye/white wheat combo.
Dough flour- if you’re just starting I’d recommend using just one type of flour until you get the gist of the whole process. There’s lots of videos on YouTube if you want take a peek.

Baking in DO- the temperature must go higher(I whack my oven right up to the max which I about 250 deg C) and you need something underneath DO to not to burn your loaf atthe bottom.

DO keeps the moisture inside so no need for ice cubes/water trays as there’s some steam trapped inside.

Thank you SO much everyone. I have been reading all the different links/sites you have mentioned and it is becoming clearer. I fed my starter yesterday with the intention to bake later in the day but it wasn't ready- my house is cold. So I will feed it again before I leave for work and try another loaf when I get in.
TBH it's the whole starter business that confuses me most- proportions, amount of starter to keep and how much to feed it when you're not baking.

Is it worth getting a banneton?

I use timing similar to @FrenchBoule and finish the 2nd rise in the fridge overnight. It also means you don't need to be as good at shaping to get a good shape loaf. A badly shaped loaf tends to go flat, but cold dough doesn't spread as quickly so you can get away with more.

I use bannetons. I use liners now because I have the dough in the fridge over and I've found it tends to stick when it sits in the bannetons that long.

I tend to make a dryer loaf, I use 300 to 320 ml water to 500 g of white flour. It makes it much easier to handle as it's a lot less sticky and my kids don't like bread with big holes in anyway. Unless you are using high gluten flour (which absorbs more water so isn't as sticky for the same amount of water) it might be worth starting with less water until you are more confident handling the dough.

Fed my starter which was wonderfully elastic, bubbly and happy. I have found wrapping the jar in a tea towel helps to insulate it a bit.
What a minefield this whole business is!

OP it is a minefield.

You don’t need a banneton,I use a pyrex bowl lined with cotton cloth and a wicker basket from car boot sale(lined as well)

According to baking gurus you need a professional scales,dough mixing tool,bannetons,proofing box and heck knows how many gadgets.Don’t forget gazillion books and each one has different method. You don’t need all that.

I’d agree with @Duckchick
Dough with lower hydration is much easier to handle.

As for shaping- I learned on YT after watching some videos.

There is a lovely woman from California - she’s got a microbakery- called Impulse to Legend. Look her up,she guides step by step.

Great tip on the lower hydration. I will try that out today. My last loaf spread out like a blob😂.

Loaf will also spread when it’s overproofed