Sourdough and breadmakers....help!

[OnlyHerefortheBiscuits]

Sourdough is delicious and pretty much the only bread I'll eat but I almost cry everytime I hand over £4+ for a loaf. I want to make my own and I have questions.....

1. how to start a starter?
2. those of you who knead/rise/bake theirs in a bread maker....which machine do you have and would you recommend it?

The only other thing I'd use the bread maker for other than loaves is a pizza dough but again...sourdough based. I live alone so I can benefit from smaller models as well as big family ones. I'll probably bake a loaf every other day.

Thank you for any advice! 🙏🏻

https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/

This is the starter recipe I used. It works great, nice and bubbly.

I've never made my sourdough in a bread machine, so I can't answer that.

I only use my bread machine to mix the dough and use the rise function (then I shape it myself). I know it has a sourdough setting but it's never turned out great that way.

I've never made sourdough in a breadmaker. It's not that difficult to make yourself but it does take practice and time.

Starter - just get yourself a small-ish plastic tupperware and mix 100g strong white bread flour plus 100g water and leave it at room temperature with the lid just resting on top. I like using the Caputo brand flour (can buy on Amazon) - makes really good bubbly starter I find. Keep adding 100g water and 100 flour every day and just stir it all together. let it sit at room temperature loosely covered by the lid. After a few days it will get bubbly and start smelling of yoghurt. You can then start using it. After a while you will have to pour off some of the starter before feeding it or it will grow out of control. You can use the pour off (the "discard") for loads of good recipes - pancakes / scones / pizza etc.

The basic method of sourdough is mixing active bubbly starter with tepid water, plus bread flour. Mix that all up to a shaggy dough. After an hour, add salt. Then every 30 mins or so you "stretch and fold" the dough to add structure to the dough (its a wet dough so you don't have to knead it like other kinds of bread, just fold it over itself in the bowl using wet hands). You let the dough ferment / rise at room temperature for several hours. Then you shape the dough (which requires practice and is an essential step- watch Insta for loads of helpful videos about dough shaping), then put it in a bowl or a banneton in the fridge for several more hours (at least overnight) for its final proof. Then score the top and bake in a lidded casserole pot in a hot oven for about 30 minutes. The whole process from mixing the dough to taking it out of the oven takes at least 24 hours in my experience. So its a labour of love but its so worth it.

I made about 4 awful loaves before I started making good bread, so expect the first few to be a disaster, but you will learn something from each one and thats what its all about.

I wouldn't use a breadmaker because a lot of the factors in making sourdough are variable. The problem with a breadmaker is that its a machine, not a human so how will it be able to tell if its fully proved yet...or whether it needs more stretch and folds etc. Each loaf you cook will be slightly different depending on the activity of your starter, the temperature of your house, the flour, the water temp....many different variables and it needs a human intuition and experience, I think, rather than a breadmaker. I may be wrong though and would be interested to hear if anyone has successfully made it in a breadmaker.

I don't think sourdough works in a breadmaker. It's a very different type of action to how it is working and doesn't take kindly to them. This is what my husband told me anyway. We gave some starter away and the lady contacted me to say she was planning to use a breadmaker but everywhere she looked online said you can't.

I have a bread machine but sourdough requires more time than the bread makers presets.

I do mix a dough in the bread maker, adjust according to how the dough all is looking (does it need more flour, more water, is it dense blah blah) and maybe give it a bit more mixing but sourdough is a trickier process than straight bread doughs. I do white, wheat, and rye breads along with pizza/calzone dough in my bread maker though.

You can skip buying a machine altogether. Have a look on YouTube for "No-knead sourdough bread". It's really easy and makes delicious bread. This is my favourite: but use bread flour rather than all-purpose.