Go for it, financial risks are of the order £10! And the best way to learn is to do.
And here's the poolish result. Super light and chewy texture, flavour a touch stronger than a quick loaf but not amazingly so. Pretty floppy out of the basket but oven spring pretty good.
Batch three of pretzels. My shaping is slowly getting better. They taste spot on though and that's the main thing.
Still not confident at starting with sourdough bread, this thread makes me very jealous haha.