Sourdough Bread in the Bread Machine

[barbszy]

Sourdough Bread

1 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flower
2 T sugar
1 T instant yeast

Note: Amount of water will depend on the thickness of your starter.

Process in your bread machine on DOUGH cycle. Remove and shape into loaf. (Mine got so big I could have split it into 2 loaves! Next time I will.) Allow to rise at least 1 hour--I let it go 1 1/4 hours. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

I tried this recipe yesterday. This is the HUGEST loaf of bread I've ever baked! For the rise I let it go 1 hour 15 minutes and it was over the top of the pan at that point. After a giant oven spring, it is SO big that I will have to cut the slices in half to toast it in the morning. Let's just say it was a good thing I already had lowered the oven rack for some other thing I baked last week. If I hadn't, there would have been a mess for sure.

This bread tasted really good and I'm sure the toast will be fantastic. Here's a picture of my huge loaf.

[cat lover]

Looks good Barbszy! Care to share your sourdough starter recipe?

[barbszy]

SOURDOUGH BREAD from the Tyler Hill Bed & Breakfast Cookbook

STARTER:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups warm water
1 TBL yeast

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a VERY large bowl. Stir in flour. Cover loosely & let stand in a warm spot for 3 - 4 days. Stir down & refrigerate in a sealed container. (My note: Make sure this is a LARGE container. The recipe book says 1 quart but I needed a half-gallon container after I spent one early morning cleaning up what my DH thought was "stinky pancake batter" all over the fridge )

You have to use this starter once every week to 10 days, or at the very least waste some and replace with a like amount, or the starter will die.

[cat lover]

Thanks, think I'll try and get DH into this one instead of his potato bread all the time!

[barbszy]

Yesterday I tried the above sourdough recipe but OMITTED the yeast. It turned out to be almost exactly like the sourdough at Cracker Barrel. I think the one difference is the oil. Next time I will try it with butter instead of oil. It was a fabulous bread--made excellent toast this morning :) With no extra yeast, only starter, I allowed the bread to rise 2 hours or so. It was not as tall as the loaf in the picture but this is the best sourdough I have made yet.