My first one didn’t last, but my second try, made with regular all purpose flour from the grocery and tap water, has been going strong for over a decade now. I do ferment other stuff too. Wondering if he could seed it with starter from someone local, I’ve shared mine before and it helped people.

Oh, I’ve never tried making the starter from nothing; mine is from a friend. It’s probably easier just to ask around.

If you’re making a starter from nothing, yeah it would likely take a week or two. But it’s not difficult or very hands-on; you’re just combining water and flour for a couple minutes each day and waiting for yeast rng.

Ask around. Many people have sourdough and love to share it!

I’ve had good results with https://www.joshuaweissman.com/post/sourdough-bread (definitely watch the video).

If you have a stand mixer then follow this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEAHA6OHxPs

My personal tips:

• Do the resting parts in your oven with the oven light turned on. That should provide a good warm space without having to heat a whole room.
• I find cutting the top with scissors (like in the second video) easier than using a razor
• If your dough doesn’t look like it’s getting big enough, let it rest/proof for longer; you’re probably more likely to accidentally under-proof your dough than over-proof while learning
• You can use any oven-safe pot + pan that fit together if you don’t have a dutch oven type of thing (check their rated temps though)
• You can use a tea towel/dish towel (just something not fluffy/fuzzy) in a bowl if you don’t have bannetons
• Your bread probably looks better photographed than irl (“the camera adds 10 pounds”, but to your bread)