Just sourdough.

The first time I put sourdough starter in my bread machine, I just substituted it into my regular bread machine recipe for some of the flour and water -- I didn't reduce the commercial yeast at all.  The result was a loaf that looked like a regular loaf of bread, tasted like a regular loaf of bread, but had a wonderfully improved texture. 

In the second loaf, I decided I'd find out what happens if I don't add any commercial yeast.  (Added:  Recipe exactly the same as the first loaf in the link above except with no added yeast).

Traditional sourdoughs typically require a longer rise than commercially-leavened yeast breads, and bread machines are designed for the latter; so usually, it's not recommended to bake sourdough in a bread machine.  Indeed, the loaf that came out was very short and dense:

But it was nicely domed and browned, with a quite sour flavor.  You can tell that the only thing wrong with it is it didn't rise long enough.

Off the top of my head, there are a couple of things I could try.

 - Use more starter-plus-sugar and less dry flour and water.  I don't know if that would work or not.

 - Try an in-between amount of added yeast, see if I can get away with less of it, and get the nice sour flavor plus the rising boost of the commercial yeast.

- Crazy thought here, I know -- but this bread is still pretty sour.  What if I put some baking soda in it?

 - Try (but in the bread machine) the recipe in the instructions that came with my sourdough starter, which involves a double-refreshing of the yeast:  once to feed it and produce fresh starter, then again to produce the right amount of dough for a batch.  I will get around to this eventually.

- Hand shape the dough and let it rise a long time (probably the best suited to produce good sourdough).  I haven't done this very much to produce everyday bread, because it just doesn't fit into my lifestyle neatly enough compared to letting the bread machine do the baking.  I can, however, exploit the bread machine to mix the dough and finish it at a pre-set time.

- Incorporate it into one of the no-knead Dutch oven breads, like this one that Christy sent me some time ago -- not a bread machine bread, but with some planning ahead produces a special loaf with little effort.

- Try a dark rye bread, or another German-style bread like an adaptation of this wheat bread or this white rye or (ooh look a recipe for Scandinavian rye crisp bread), sorry, where was I?, oh yes.  The point here would not be to make it rise higher, but to find a recipe that would make a pleasant dense loaf -- one that would make it seem a feature, not a bug.   

Meanwhile, I have this 1 and 1/2 pound loaf of dense sourdough, and I am the only one who wants to eat it.  This is kind of a problem.    Hannah reports to me that the really dense sourdough she used to make with the same culture made excellent cheese toast, but I'm not sure the kids, or Mark, will eat it.  I am thinking I might slice that loaf very thin, toast it slowly in a low oven, and call it Melba toast...

Added:  My next loaf this afternoon will be another honey oatmeal "household staple" loaf, you know, for my family to make PB&J with.  After that I'll do another experimental sourdough.  Looking forward to using the sourdough in some raisin bran muffins on Tuesday.

Comments

[Jamie]

What if you slice it and freeze the slices on a tray before you stash them in a freezer bag? You can pull out a slice at a time for morning toast without worrying that it will mold.

Have you ever made Queen of Puddings? If they really don't like the bread, it probably won't work in bread pudding. But blitzed to crumbs and soaked in custard, it might go over well in a pretty and festive (but not terribly labor-intensive) Queen of Puddings. Lots of good feast days coming up -- maybe a dessert for one of those?

[MelanieB]

I've been having similar problems in my experimental bread baking. I keep coming up with loaves the family won't eat. If I eat it all, though, that's not so good for me. I do like the idea of slicing then freezing. I've never heard of Queen of Puddings. Might check that out.