I come from the opposite approach and would like to try some well-known starters to see how the wild one I've had for about 2 years compares. So far, I've been impressed with its hardiness and ability to raise dough even after being relatively abused. I don't have much frame of reference concerning flavor. My homegrown starter turns out no-knead sourdough bread that is tasty to me and others, and I've been using it lately more and more in pizza dough.
Here's my typical no-knead bread recipe:
420g total flour. I use a small handful (a few heaping tablespoons?) of whole wheat flour. I don't know if it helps or what it does technically, but I started out that way and it has become the norm. The rest is either all KA bread flour or a mix with that and KA AP. KA bread flour is more expensive here than AP, which is the only reason for cutting it down.
1 1/2 t salt
260g water
30g or so starter
sometimes a little, maybe 1/2 t, of oil -- doesn't seem to make much difference
Mix it all up. I add the starter to the water and stir. Salt is mixed with the flour, which gets added to the water/starter. I actually knead the dough a little just enough to shape into a ball, which then goes into a lightly oiled plastic bowl set on the counter at room temp (varies here from 70 in the winter to 80 in the summer). I have plates that are the perfect size to seal the bowl, so I place one on top. I add a note of the time in case I get occupied with other things and forget.
I usually fold the dough a time or two in the early hours, but I've had equally good results without bothering.
After anywhere from 16 hours to 22 hours, the dough has at least doubled. The time varies based on room temp, how active the starter was (if I had fed and used at peak or just pinched some old starter straight out of the fridge), how much I used, etc.
After it has puffed up enough to suit me and smells good, fold, shape and place into a bread pan 2-3 hours before baking. I use a glass bread dish that is slightly smaller than most metal bread pans. I grease (Crisco) and flour it before putting in my shaped dough to prevent sticking. I've found that greasing and flouring works far better than wiping with oil. Push the shaped dough in there and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
2-3 hours later, when the dough has risen enough to meet the top of the dish or is a slightly above, it's time to go into the oven. Immediately before, I make a single slash along the top. It needs to be fairly deep, at least a 1/4", to produce a typical store-bought loaf shape.
Then it goes into a cold oven. I set the temp to 375 or so, and give it 45 minutes or longer. Gas ovens produce a lot of moisture when heating up, which I suspect helps serve as the steam often advocated by those who actually know about bread making (I'm certainly not one of them).
Somewhere along the line I stick a temp probe in. I take the middle of the loaf to 212 (at about 1000 ft. altitude), then remove it from the baking dish and set on a rack to cool.
One of these days I'll get a San Francisco or Italian starter and see how it compares. I'd also like to try dumping dough into a pre-heated cast iron pot.
