Sourdough Machine Bread

After a year and dozens of delicious but dense loaves, I have a recipe for a sourdough whole wheat sandwich loaf that is yummy, takes minimal ingredients and attention, and works consistently in the bread machine. Part of this consistency is using the weigh scale instead of measuring cups.

This recipe uses the "Artisan" cycle of the Cuisinart bread machine; the important parts of this are: 1) it rises and punches down multiple times and 2) does not bake at the end. The owner's manual says, "The idea is to have long, cool rises to develop the flavors and texture of the dough."

"Dough" cycle on any machine should work just as well.

The recipe is designed to take a couple of minutes to start before bed and bake first thing in the morning, or start before you go to work and bake when you get home.

After using 100g of my starter, "Juliette", I feed her with 50g flour, 50g water, and put her back in the fridge to be used in a couple of days. If you're baking every day, leave your starter on the counter instead.

I use Speerville Mill "Whole White" flour; any whole-wheat should work OK.