I'm glad it turned out well for you - thanks for coming back to share!

Thank you for your fast reply! I made the levain while my starter was bubbly and doubled. The bread turned out delicious and the perfect texture. Best boule I’ve made so far!

I think this works with just a healthy starter, as long as you fed it the day before and it has bubbled up to be truly active. But if you are unsure about quite how healthy it is, then I'd do the feeding so it doubles first, if that makes sense. Hope you enjoy!

Yay! So glad to hear it came out well.

So I am not quite sure if I fully understand the question but hopefully this helps - you first make a 'levain/sponge' with some starter, flour and water as listed under 'levain/sponge' in the recipe. You make this mixture the night before or at least 6-8 hours before you add anything else. Then you use all of this sponge mixture and add the additional flour and water etc listed under "to make loaf". So you are not just taking an amount of starter, but an extra-active sponge you made with a small amount of starter a few hours before. Hope that helps clarify!

Glad t hear it turned out well, and black garlic sounds like a tasty variation, too.

So glad to hear you enjoyed!

So adding up, it looks about 10 hours, though it can be more depending how you do the initial levain. I'd say you can certainly leave the levain for longer as long as your room temperature is not too warm, so prep it late in the evening, leave overnight and then do the loaf prep and rises from mid-morning the next day. Another option is to do part of the second rise (so once the loaf is formed) in the fridge so it happens more gradually. So you could do levain overnight, first rise in the morning then leave out say for an hour for second rise then transfer to fridge. Take it out as you warm up the oven. Hope that helps!

So glad to hear you have been enjoying it. And poppyseeds sound a lovely addition.

I'm so glad to hear you have been enjoying! Yes I have got into the habit of doing 2nd rise overnight in the fridge for a number of sourdough breads as well, and mean to do so with this one too next time I make it. Thyme sounds good in there as a sub. With other breads, actually, I often add the salt straight in. I only didn't here as from so much I had been reading, this is the 'right' way to do it but I should try a side-by-side at some point to see if it changes much. Either way, glad you enjoyed!

For most recipes, I will give cup/teaspoon measurements as well as grams to allow for different ways of measuring, but with bread in particular, it really makes a difference being more accurate. For some of the measurements, ounces just aren't accurate enough and it will depend on your scales whether it uses decimal, quarters etc on smaller amounts. I'd highly recommend a digital scale which you can then easily switch to grams for baking things like this.

So glad to hear you enjoyed, and that the instructions were helpful!

I've not included instructions for the starter here as that's really a recipe in itself (and takes a little time to get started, though it's not difficult) - this is more intended as giving an idea to use a starter if you have one going already, though I appreciate it may be helpful to have a suggested resource. If you are looking for a starter recipe, there are many resources around, part of why I haven't published anything separate (yet at least, though that may change!), and one possible place to start is King Arthur Flour's recipe/post: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe

I haven't tried cooking bread in a slow cooker though I know it is, in theory, possible. So I'm afraid I can't advise on specific adaptations for this bread. From what I have seen, slow cooker bread tends to not come out with as good a shape and doesn't usually crisp up. You can compensate a little on crispness by finishing under broiler but have to take care as it can burn in patches. If you have the option to do in the oven, I would certainly recommend this if possible.

So glad to hear you enjoyed, and yes this definitely works with other herbs, too.

You're welcome - it's really easier than you might think, I hope once you get your starter going you'll give it a try!

Sounds like perfect timing! It's definitely fun to try different things once you have a starter going - hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.

Thanks, we instantly love it!

Thanks - if only you could have smells through the screen, right?!

Thank you!

Thanks, it certainly went down very well here, so hope it would for you too!

Thanks, I know what you mean! Though I do highly recommend the add-ins here, the onions in particular add such a wonderful flavor.