Sourdough Bread Machine

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Sourdough starter takes around five days to finish fermenting. So you should make starter about 1 week in advance of making the Sourdough bread in the bread machine.

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Ingredients

  • SOUR DOUGH STARTER RECIPE:
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup milk, warmed
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sourdough starter (See Below on How To Make)
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees)
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 T. sugar or honey

Preparation

Step 1

SOURDOUGFH STARTER DIRCECTION:
1. Gather your ingredients. You'll need yeast, flour, water, and either sugar or honey to feed the starter.

2. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water.

3. Whisk together the remaining warm water, flour, sugar or honey, and dissolved yeast mixture.

4. Place mixture in a large glass bowl, or a very large mason jar, as it rises quire a bit. Cover the sourdough starter with cheesecloth and let stand at room temperature for 3-5 days, stirring three times daily. The starter is ready for use when it smells fermented and the vigorous bubbling ceases.

5. When your sourdough starter is done fermenting, you may store it in the refrigerator in a covered plastic container.

Maintenance and Use of Sourdough Starter:
6. To use your starter, first stir it up. Then measure out the amount of cold starter that you need, and then let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before proceeding with your recipe.

7. Replenish your starter by adding 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, 3/4 c. water, and 1 t. sugar or honey to remaining starter. Let stand at room temperature for a day, and then you can cover and place it back in the refrigerator.

8. If you don't use your starter within 10 days, remove one cup of starter and add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water and stir well. You can then refrigerate it again immediately.

BREAD MACHINE DIRECTIONS (Makes a 2 lb loaf):
1. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to your bread pan. If your bread machine has a warming cycle, turn it off and start a basic bread cycle to stir these ingredients together. I use the dark crust setting for this recipe.

2. Slowly add warm milk and softened butter to dry mixture while the bread machine is still stirring. Then do the same with the sourdough starter.

3. Add the remaining 2-1/2 cups of flour slowly to the wet mixture. It may seem like too much flour, as the dough will get very crumbly, but it will all get kneaded into the bread. I've found that it helps to press down on the dough as the machine is still kneading to get it to pick up all of the bits of dough.

4. Close the top of the bread machine and let it finish out its cycle. When the bread is done baking, remove it from the pan immediately and let it cool on a rack to prevent it from getting soggy.

Makes a 2 lb.loaf.

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