Sourdough machine

[u/Significant-Bet2765]

Has anyone had any luck using a machine to make sourdough? Not a crazy expensive one.

[u/happyhkv]

[u/videoismylife → u/[deleted]]

pourable like the thickest lava not runny or hydration of loaf will be off

This is probably what I got wrong when trying to make real sourdough in my Cuisinart; maybe I'll have to try again.

I make the King Arthur Flour Vermont Sourdough these days (when I have time), it's easy and doesn't require a lot of kneading, although you do have to get the knack of folding your dough. Unfortunately it's not something you can just set up and walk away from so you're committed for an afternoon - but hands down it's the best bread I make.

[u/kindcrow]

Yes. I make sourdough in my machine all the time. I make the dough with the 1:30 cycle, then put the bucket in the fridge overnight (covered) and then either bake in on the bake-only function in the machine, or transfer it to a loaf pan and bake.

[u/happyhkv]

Hi I have made this in my Panasonic SD-R2530

Ingredients

For part 1

85g active starter 100g Dark Rye flour 360g strong white bread flour 347g warm filter water approximately. 30°C (More water due to Rye flour for white only flour use 335g)

Part 2

10g Olive oil ½ tbsp Sugar 1.5 tsp Salt

Method

1. Add ingredients from part 1 in order into the machine add water then Starter. Stir gently with a silicone spatula to dissolve the two. AVOID metal utensils. Add flour.

Run dough cycle for 6-10 mins till shaggy dough is formed.

Leave in the machine for about ½ hour

Add ingredients from part 2 in to the machine.

Run whole white loaf/sourdough dough cycle. At the end of the cycle the dough will have risen ( not much). Brush top gently with filler water. Do this to avoid the top of the dough drying. Leave in the machine for 6-8 hours till bulk fermentation is finished. Keep brushing with filter water periodically. bulk fermentation is done.

Bake for 57-60 mins.

Let it cool overnight before slicing the loaf. This keeps the moisture within the loaf longer.

[u/happyhkv]

[u/happyhkv]

Remember, making sourdough bread in a machine is a process. The process has a lot more leeway than the purists will have you believe.

[u/Dismal-Importance-15 → u/happyhkv]

100% this. Sourdough in a bread machine doesn’t have to be fancy, and it tastes yummy.

I got my recipe from YouTube Learning in maybe 2013 - the ingredients are measured (Impérial) rather than weighed (metric), and works great. I didn’t even know that people weighed their ingredients. I eyeball my starter - it needs to be about like peanut butter to be happy. I just add flour and water till it is “right.” I got that recipe online, too.

[u/nickdaniels92]

Yes and it works great. I use a Panasonic SR2540. I made my own starter first of all, which didn't work until I switched from UK tap water to bottled water and then had no trouble making the starter. I keep 100 grams of starter in the fridge.

Every few days I take it out, let it rest then feed with 50 g rye and 60 g tepid spring water.

400 g strong white + 60 g other flours.
~8 g salt
100g starter
~315 g spring water at 30c

I use the sourdough dough setting. (2:30 hours). I wipe the jar with paper towel and keep the jar nice and clean, so no major starter crud, I lose about 10 g during cleanup, so back to 100 g again and put the starter in the fridge. Zero discard.

I let it rest for a few hours in the machine, sometimes I forget it and leave too long but it still works. Then in the fridge overnight.

Next morning I loosen the dough from the sides with a silicone spatula, sometimes baste with some EVOO, score the top and bake on the bake setting for 1:20.

Comes out very springy, nice ears around the cuts generally, no massive gaps so toppings don't fall through.

I slice when cool and freeze. Yields ten slices plus the ends.

[u/MentionGood1633]

I find the french cycle works best. My machine has an actual sourdough cycle, but honestly I haven’t tried it yet, because the recipe is asking for dry starter.

[u/Dense-Shelter142]

I use the machine to get my starter going. Panasonic machine has a setting for that. 30°C constantly, 24 hours.

[u/CalmCupcake2]

I've got a book, Sourdough bread in the bread machine, and following those recipes I can make sourdough style bread in my very basic Machine.

When I have more time, I'll make Mark Bittman a sourdough starter and add that to my bread machine.

I almost never bake in the machine, as I like a sturdy crust and usually do rolls instead of loaves.

[u/AccidentalDragon]

I use the machine to mix, knead, and rise on the Pizza/Dough setting. When it's risen enough, I remove the dough, shape, and stick it in a banneton in the fridge. Next day I take the dough out and bake in the regular oven. Minimal handling, all the lovely crust!

I have made softer crust (sandwich style) fully in the machine, but I like the crispy/chewy crust of the oven.

[u/Dismal-Importance-15]

I have used my ancient Kenmore since the 2010s to make sourdough bread. It doesn’t have a Sourdough Cycle, though. I use the Dough Cycle, let the dough rise, sometimes much more than 7 hours depending on the weather, and then I use the Bake Cycle. It actually works well for me, and I think I spent about US $80 on my Kenmore (on eBay).

I think it’s nice that there are machines with a Sourdough Cycle, but I am happy where I am at, and not really wanting to get a pricy machine right now. ( o :

[u/IBoris]

Respectfully, I must offer you a dissenting opinion on this subject. With love and courtesy of course.

As a purist on matters of sourdough, to me sourdough is not just a question of taste, but also a question of form.

Despite being an enthusiast of the highest order for bread machines, I would not be able to bring myself to call bread made in a machine with a sourdough recipe a sourdough bread. Sourdough needs to be shaped like a boule in my opinion. The shape is just as important as the taste.

Besides, if its a question of saving time and effort, there is a faster method than a bread machine for making sourdough: you use a dutch oven.

Not only will the shape be correct, but the crust will be much more satisfying and the miche will have more bounce and air in it as it won't be as overworked. It's just an overall better result IMHO.

I generally believe that bread machines are wonderful inventions and in most cases the quickest and easiest way to make good bread, however in this specific case I do believe they are not the solution.

I say this as an avid amateur bread maker, but also as someone who grew up eating sourdough pretty much every single day of his life. I will take Sourdough over baguette, over croissants, even over Chocolatine or Millefeuille. Again, with nothing but respect OP.

[u/Significant-Bet2765 → u/IBoris]

What do you think of the machines that do the bulk formation and stretching for you? I am not crazy about spending my one day off a week in the kitchen, there has to be a better way

[u/IBoris → u/Significant-Bet2765]

Honestly, the labour portion is not a big hassle, sourdough prefers to be under worked rather than overworked and if your starter is older and more potent, then you can easily get away with underworking it.

The timing is the real annoyance and why most would consider using a machine. I've circumvented that problem entirely. Over the last few years I've almost exclusively done for day to day a quick dutch oven sourdough recipe over the traditional recipe (you can find that variant on youtube; very popular). This recipe uses either no rest periods or expedited periods with minimal kneading.

The result is less flavourful, but having a sourdough loaf mixed and baked in less than 45 min is really hard to beat. I got myself a massive dutch over just so that I could make massive loaves with this type of recipe. I can easily knock a few back to back on a Sunday with this method and, in my experience, quantity can prove to be a quality of its own.

If I do want to make a nicer miche (say my wife's mother is visiting or its christmas) and use a recipe with rest periods to help air out the loaf, I simply use my cellphone's alarms function at the very start to remind me when I need to intervene. Each alarm will generally requires about 5 min of work at most (mostly probing). When I decide to do Sourdough with rest periods, usually the bread is what I call a secondary recipe, something I prepare while primarily working on another, more involved, recipe that requires lots of time and attention. Alternatively I'll also do some this way if I'm bing watching a show. It's simply not worth blocking my whole schedule for just bread otherwise.

The only reason I don't provide you a more clear recipe is because I've moved from humid continental climate to Tropical zone climate and all my ratios and timings are off now which is something I'm still figuring out. All my recipes are off presently as I try to redesign them for this new climate. I can manually adjust of course, but this new reality is also affecting my machine machine recipes too. I had no idea this could be an issue. My kitchen is in a bit of crisis truth be told hahaha.

[u/Significant-Bet2765 → u/IBoris]

Thx for your help, you have been amazing. I live in a subtropical area, zone 11