sourdough review

Well ladies, since I posted this I have made a loaf of sourdough everyday. The first loaf i did exactly as the recipe said, only by hand not mixer. It was okay but not quite what I expected (very little if any "sour" taste but very crusty outside and soft and chewy inside). The second loaf I followed the same directions but, this time instead of using the reccomended amount of flour I went by feel. I think I used a little less flour and kept the dough a tiny bit stickier than the first loaf. For those not familiar with bread making a dough should be smooth and elastic when the right amount of flour is added. If it gets rough or dry feeling dampen your hands and then knead the moisture off your hands into the dough to replenish the moisture. I thought this loaf too was good and more moist but still lacking a bit in the sour flavor.
So, for loaf 3 I made a "sponge" from my starter. Which basically means I took the starter out of the fridge the night before I intended to bake the bread and let it sit on the counter overnight to ferment a bit more. This loaf was much better. It had a slightly more sour taste and the bread was a little lighter and delicious. For the 4th loaf I again made a sponge, I also added about 3 teaspoons of sugar and a little more salt to the dough. This was my favorite yet. It had a better flavor and was so good it disappeared before I made dinner (000ppps!).
So, I gues my reccomendation would be to make the sponge overnight, add a bit of sugar and go by feel of the dough rather than specific amount of flour to use. I love how easy this bread is to make and the fact that ow that I have my starter I can make fresh bread any day as long as I have salt and flour in the house! I will continue to try new things and hope the starter gets a more complex flavor as it ages! I have done lots of reading on sourdough bread this week and would be happy to offer any suggestions or answer any questions you may have! I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks! Oh, well, I am off to start loaf 5! I am forseeing bread, starter?, and a soup in the jar mix as a great Christmas gift for my neighbors or friends!