New adventures in sourdough

Since adopting an unloved breadmaker a month or so ago via Twitter, I've been determined to prove that making Real Bread in it using natural leaven is possible.

Other than Andrew Whitley’s bread machine recipe on this website, none I have found has even permitted fresh yeast, let alone a starter culture.  In fact, all but one has decreed ‘thou shalt only use instant yeast.’

Each time I come across a new bread machine recipe book, eagerly I turn straight to the index, look up sourdough and, if it promises one, flip to find the elusive secret. Without exception, my hopes have been dashed - all require you to throw in an extra raising agent. As for those recipe writers who think that an overnight sponge, seeded with additive-laden instant yeast can be called a sourdough starter…

Given the cycles on my adopted model (the longest being under five hours from start to finish), making genuine sourdough requires a workaround (turning the machine on and off at appropriate times) to allow the sourdough colonies to build up and sufficient proving time. 

After a few abject failures, I have started to get some pretty decent results.  Olga ('from the Volga', my rye starter of Russian heritage) and I have baked a few loaves that, whilst not yet as good as handmade sourdough, have tasted great and made pretty good toast.

Tell us about yours
Though going off piste with your bread machine might produce a brick or two and could well invalidate the guarantee, if you are prepared to take the risk, we’d love to hear how you get on with your own genuine breadmaker sourdough.