Best Sourdough Bread Recipe for a Bread Machine

On this page (9 sections)

1. Can a bread machine make real sourdough bread?
2. What starter and ingredients do you need?
3. What is the best sourdough bread recipe for a bread machine?
4. Which bread machine settings suit sourdough?
5. How do you mix and knead sourdough in the machine?
6. How long should sourdough rise in a bread machine?
7. How do you bake and cool the loaf?
8. What goes wrong with sourdough in a bread machine?
9. Which bread machine should you use for sourdough?

The best sourdough bread recipe for a bread machine uses about 1 cup of active starter, a long knead and rise, and then bakes in the machine. Feed your starter 4 to 8 hours before you mix, and keep the salt away from the starter until the dough comes together.

A bread machine handles sourdough well because it can knead and warm the dough for hours without you standing over it. The trick is to give the starter enough time and to pick a cycle that suits a slow rise.

Can a bread machine make real sourdough bread?

Yes, a bread machine makes real sourdough, as long as you use active starter rather than discard. The machine takes care of kneading, rising and baking, which is everything a loaf needs after the starter is ready.

Sourdough depends on wild yeast and bacteria in the starter, not on the packet yeast that plain bread uses. Those organisms work slower than commercial yeast, so the dough needs more time.

Most bread machines run a basic cycle in 3 to 4 hours. That is often enough for a healthy starter at warm room temperature, but a cool kitchen can stretch the rise longer than the machine allows.

If your loaves come out dense, use the dough cycle instead and let the dough finish rising in a bowl.

What starter and ingredients do you need?

You need a bubbly, active starter, bread flour, water and salt. That is the whole list for a plain loaf, and adding oil or sugar changes the crumb.

Feed the starter with equal weights of flour and water and wait until it doubles and smells mildly sour. A starter that has just been fed is weak; a starter that has sat unfed for days is sour but tired.

Use bread flour for the structure and keep the water lukewarm. Cool water slows the wild yeast, and hot water can kill it.

Measure the starter by weight if you can. Volume varies a lot depending on how thick your starter is, so a scale keeps the dough consistent from loaf to loaf.

What is the best sourdough bread recipe for a bread machine?

Use a 1.5 lb loaf with 1 cup of starter, 3 cups of bread flour, 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. This ratio gives a dough the machine can knead without straining the motor.

Add the water first, then the starter, then the flour, and put the salt in a corner away from the starter. Salt slows the wild yeast, so you want it mixed through the flour, not sitting on the starter.

Set the machine to the basic or white cycle with a medium crust. If your machine has a whole wheat or French setting, either works too, since both give the dough more time.

The recipe scales to a 2 lb loaf by using 1 1/2 cups of starter and 4 cups of flour. Keep the water at about 1 1/4 cups and watch the dough in the first few minutes.

Which bread machine settings suit sourdough?

Pick the longest basic cycle your machine offers, or the whole wheat cycle for extra rise time. Sourdough needs time more than it needs heat.

The basic cycle on most machines kneads, rests, rises and bakes in one go. The rest periods matter, because they let the flour hydrate and the starter start working.

Avoid the rapid cycle. It cuts the rise to about 2 hours, which is too short for wild yeast unless your kitchen is very warm.

The Breville Custom Loaf BBM800XL lets you build a custom program and store it, so you can stretch the rise to suit your starter. {{product B004RCNJA0 | Nine custom settings you can tune to give sourdough a longer rise than the standard cycles.}}

How do you mix and knead sourdough in the machine?

Load the pan in the order your machine's manual gives, then let the first knead run and check the dough. The dough should form a soft ball that clears the sides.

Open the lid after 5 minutes of kneading. If the dough looks dry and crumbly, add water a tablespoon at a time.

If it sticks to the pan in a wet puddle, add flour the same way.

Sourdough dough is usually a little wetter than yeast dough, so expect it to feel tacky. It should still pull away from the sides and gather around the paddle.

The Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus uses double kneading blades, which help a sticky dough come together evenly. {{product B07BQ28TQ6 | Two kneading blades and dual heaters that handle a wet sourdough dough and brown the crust evenly.}}

How long should sourdough rise in a bread machine?

Give it 2 to 3 hours in a warm spot, or use the dough cycle and let it rise in a bowl for 4 to 6 hours. The right time depends on your starter and the room.

A healthy starter at about 75°F will lift a dough in 2 to 3 hours. A cold kitchen doubles that, and the machine's warm rest periods help but don't fully make up for it.

Watch the dough rather than the clock. It is ready when it has risen by about half again and looks puffy, with small bubbles on the surface.

If the machine's cycle ends before the dough has risen, switch to the dough cycle and finish the rise in a covered bowl. Then bake in the machine's bake-only setting if it has one, or in your oven.

How do you bake and cool the loaf?

Bake in the machine on the basic cycle, then tip the loaf out and cool it on a rack for at least an hour. Cutting it hot makes the crumb gummy.

Most machines bake inside the same pan, so the crust comes out pale on top unless the machine has a lid heater. The Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme bakes a rectangular 2 lb loaf with a crust shade you choose. {{product B002XVUAOU | A sourdough starter setting plus a 2 lb rectangular loaf and adjustable crust shade.}}

Let the loaf cool fully before slicing. Sourdough keeps developing as it cools, and the crumb firms up, which makes the slices hold together.

Store the loaf cut side down on a board for 2 to 3 days, or slice and freeze it. For a plain white loaf to compare against, see how to make white bread in a bread machine.

What goes wrong with sourdough in a bread machine?

Most failures come from a weak starter, too much water or a rise that was cut short. Each one shows up in the loaf, so you can usually tell which happened.

A flat, pale loaf points to a starter that wasn't ready. A gummy center means the loaf was cut hot or the dough was too wet.

A dense, heavy loaf means the rise was too short.

Fix the starter first. Feed it twice a day for 2 days and check that it doubles within 6 hours of feeding before you bake again.

If the machine's cycles are the limit, switch to the dough cycle for the rise and bake in a Dutch oven. That gives you the open crumb that machine loaves can miss.

Which bread machine should you use for sourdough?

Any machine with a basic cycle works; pick one with a long rise and a dough setting if you can. The Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus is the strongest all-round choice for this job.

Its double kneading blades and dual heaters handle a wet dough and brown the crust, and its course settings include Multigrain, Whole Wheat and Gluten Free. The 13-hour timer also lets you set the loaf to finish later.

The Breville Custom Loaf BBM800XL is the pick if you want to program your own rise times and store the recipe for next time. The Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme suits anyone who wants a simple machine with a sourdough starter setting and a dependable 2 lb loaf.

If you eat low carb, our keto bread recipe for bread machine shows how to adapt a machine loaf. And when the holidays come, these bread machine dinner rolls put the same dough skills to work.

The best sourdough bread recipe for a bread machine is the one that matches your starter and your schedule. Start with the 1.5 lb loaf, watch the first knead, and give the dough the rise it needs.

Once the loaf holds together, adjust the water and timing until it suits your kitchen.

Frequently asked questions

How much starter goes into a bread machine loaf?

About 1 cup of active starter for a 1.5 lb loaf, or 1 1/2 cups for a 2 lb loaf. More starter makes a wetter dough that the machine struggles to knead.

Why did my sourdough loaf come out flat?

A flat loaf usually means the starter was weak or the rise was too short. Feed the starter until it doubles within 6 hours, then use a longer cycle so the dough has time to rise.

Do I need a special setting for sourdough?

No. Use the basic or whole wheat cycle, or the dough cycle if you want to shape and bake by hand.

Sourdough has no yeast, but it behaves like any slow-rising dough.

Can I use sourdough discard instead of active starter?

Discard has little lift left, so a loaf made with it stays dense. Add a little commercial yeast alongside the discard if you don't want to wait for a full ferment.