KBS Bread Machine: Sourdough Notes, First Use: About: I'm an experienced baker & pastry chef, I have never used a bread machine before! For the sake of inexperienced and experienced alike, I make these notes. When baking bread I look for hydration, softness, smoothness, elasticity, stickiness, stiffness, pull, crumb, etc. The high gluten flour used for bread is considered high protein flour. Higher protein flour absorbs more water than lower protein flour. Bread flour may need more water than all-purpose flours lower protein content. The dough should be soft & supple, not too firm, nor too dry. Gluten & protein content of wheat flour: Bread flour = 12-14% (hard spring wheat). All-purpose flour (combination of hard & soft wheat) = 8-11%. Cake flour (soft white wheat) = 7-9%. Soft white wheat (lower gluten/protein) is good for non-kneaded baked goods like cookies, pancakes, pie crust, cakes/sponges, flat breads, soda breads, biscuits, etc. For gluten free bread; go with high protein rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, & potato starch. I happen to prefer my sourdough bread, daily bread, to be a simple 4 ingredient affair, excluding oils/fats, sugars, etc. Here's the recipe, based on bakers math, that I used for my first go at the new bread machine. Basic Sourdough Bread: 2lb loaf 3 2/3 c bread flour (organic unbleached bread flour) 1 ¼ c warm filtered water (higher elevation- added about 2-3 tbsp extra water- a small handful). 1 tbsp salt (pink Himalayan) ½ c + 2 tbsp prepared sourdough starter Sourdough Starter: Average room temperature between 68°F – 72°F. Altitude: 4487 Feet. Weather; Snowing. Average outside temperature, Low 22°F, High 43°F. Humidity outside between 92% - 99%. Sourdough starter was started 5 days prior to baking using organic unbleached bread flour, & warm filtered water. Starter is in glass container with inverted loose lid so it can “breath” (expel gasses, & absorb environmental microbial yeasts & bacteria), container sits on a thick cloth, on top of cool kitchen counter. Viscosity; after first 4 days, starter becomes the consistency thin pancake batter (manufactures directions), hydration level of starter is too high. Discard 1c of starter. Now into 5th day of starter growth; I've named my starter Gertie, short for Gertrude, I don't know why I like that name? Starter Fed; Increase flour (1c) to water (½ c); lower hydration ratio, sourdough starter is now the consistency of very thick pancake batter, it's 7am. There is approximately 3 ½ – 4 cups of starter. At 2 pm starter is considered a high viscosity, more sluggish and resistant to deformation, thick pancake batter. Starter smells slightly acidic- like mild vinegar, slightly sweet, with excellent bubble formation (carbon dioxide), fermentation is perfect! At this point starter should either be fed, used for baking, or stored in the refrigerator. Note: if you have extra starter, you could dehydrate it and use it dry, use 105°F or less temp! Starter is ready, bread making begins. Bread Machine Baking: KBS Bread Machine pan has been cleaned, paddle inserted (stirring knife). Generally; fallowing quick steps for making bread provided by manufactures pamphlet that is included with machine (liquid, solids, yeast). My steps: Into the fabulous Teflon free, ceramic coated bread pan (2nd reason for buying this particular machine); warm filtered water, bread flour, salt, prepared sourdough starter, stir it up gently with thin rubber spatula, don't want to scratch the bread pan! Insert pan, lock into place, plug in, Press menu button, unable to access menu! Press start button, machine starts on default mode. Press menu button, unable to access menu! Press start button, machine stops, still unable to access menu. Unplug, wait, re-plug machine in. Press menu button, unable to access menu! Press start, machine starts on default mode, again. Confusion reigns; call techno inclined friend for help! Press Start again, on second press of start button we realize it's going into Pause. Press start button third time in a row, machine now turns Off. Feeling like a total dunderhead, friend laughs with me, not at me, he was just as confused as I was! Press menu button while machine is in Off mode and ta-da, trumpets sound, sun comes out, joy abounds, do a little happy dance with friend..... The machine allows me to access menu mode! Smiling with sigh of relief, brand new machine works, yay! Mental note: Must remember to press Start, Pause, Stop to reach Menu! Choose Settings: Category #3 (1st reason for choosing this particular machine= categories); Natural Sourdough. Baked Crust Color- Lightest, Loaf size; 2 lbs. Hit Start! Machine works fine, perfect in fact, it tells me it has about 6 ½ hours till it will be done, no adjustments needed on my part & perfect for the breads state of development, (remember naturally fermenting bread like sourdough takes time; bakers yeast, bread machine yeast, active dry yeast, rapid rise yeast, etc., will be far, far less time, and have a different flavor!) But my friend is disappointed, apparently he thought the bread would be done almost instantaneously; hot, fresh, home-made bread, ready in seconds! I tell him to go home and come back later for a late supper, including the fresh bread :) Tasting notes: Bread has a slightly acetic nose, crumb is well developed and moderate, crust is slightly crispy and pale cream in color, a bit too light for sourdough (will try medium bake color next time!), slightly glossy finish with excellent spring, very tasty natural tanginess with slightly chewy texture! Friend likes bread so much he takes remainder of loaf home! Thoughts: Yes I had a technology learning curve dunderhead moment, normal for me; yes I named my starter after someone's grandma someplace, in the end I love this machine. Very convenient, 17 categories of bread/jam/yogurt/fermentation, three weights, three bake colors, nice looking design (3rd reason for buying this machine)- looks so pretty on my black counter tops, not to large, very quiet, so quiet in fact I periodically went over to check on it to make sure it was still good to go! I will hopefully enjoy this machine for years & years to come, thank you KBS (Jiangmen Kangbaishi Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd: China), you've made a really nice product!