Ingredients

250g Shipton Mill Light Rye Flour

150g Shipton Mill Untreated White Bread No 4 Flour (or can be another good quality strong white from Shipton Mill)

180g Sourdough Starter - medium thickness (c 70% hydrated)

15g Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or another good quality oil such as cold pressed rapeseed oil)

3/4 - 1 Teaspoon Salt (according to taste)

10g - Active dried yest (alternatively organic fresh yeast activated) I primarily use dried yest to 'help' sourdough rising. Please note that this recipe is for my bog-standard every day easy loaf when I haven't got time to put more effort to make the process more artisan.

260ml water (room temperature)

Optional ingredients:

Please note that seeds can be added according to your own taste and preferences. However, do not overdo these as the bread will not rise enough.

* Caraway seeds - a couple of teaspoons

or

* Linseeds - a handful

Method

1. Place all ingredients in the baking bowl of the breadmaker. I follow the below order which has proved to work well.

* Sourdough starter

* Flour

* Olive Oil

* Salt

* Seeds (if used)

* Water

* Yeast (put in the special yeast dispenser of your bread maker if it has one; this will make better results, otherwise place with other ingredients)

2. Insert baking basket in the body of bread machine. Close the lid. If the machine has a yeast dispenser now put yeast there (as per description above).

3. Select a relevant program for a Rye Loaf. In my machine it is programme 07 (Rye) and the process takes 3.30 hrs. Alternatively you could use a programme for speciality bread (4.30 hrs) or even the one for the standard white loaf (my machine is 4 hours for that one).

4. Once the process is complete in the machine, take the loaf out immediately and place on a ribbed baking tray or in a basket to rest and cool down.

5. Enjoy your loaf and share generously

Notes:

1. Ensure you do not pour salt straight into your sourdough starter and yeast as it will stop them working effectively.

2. Sourdough starter works best if freshly activated (bubbling) but it has worked for me when it was calmer.

3. This recipe can be used with a delayed programme in the bread maker. However, results may vary dependent on strength of the yeast and starter.

4. You can use the proportions of 300g of light rye, 100g of white flour and starter subject to taste and preferences.

Your feedback is welcome!