Taming wild yeasts.

I recently decided to swap making my traditional yeast breads with sourdough....just for fun. (Oh, and if you don't care about bread, you should skip this.) I wish I could say things are going well. Sourdough, unlike my beloved, domestic, active dry yeast, is made by mixing equal parts flour and water and, through fermentation, captures "wild yeasts" from the air. And, therefore has the temperment of a wild animal. Don't get me wrong, I've managed to come up with several great, crusty, flavorful loaves with this stuff...but, it's been totally unpredictable. Dry yeast is very loyal. As long as you give it a wet, warm place to hang out, it will love you. And even if it's having a bad day, you can just sprinkle some sugar on it, and THEN it will love you. Sourdough, on the other hand, is an actual living organism. It requires frequent feedings, consistent temperatures, reacts poorly to metal (which rules out the kitchen aid and the handy dough hook), and even under perfect conditions, may take up to 4 hours for just one rise. 4 hours. I'm just so not that patient. Anyway, it's probably good for my soul. Another interesting note about bread: I read somewhere recently that the purpose for "slashing" a cross on the top of bread loaves originated in Ireland and was actually used to bless the bread before baking, and not just to make the bread look pretty. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't know this.