Put the oatmeal, butter or shortening, molasses, brown sugar, and salt in the pan of the bread machine; add boiling water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes or until mixture has cooled to warm.
Add the flour and yeast. Select dough setting and press start. Approximately half way through the kneading cycle, add the raisins.
Check the dough (don't be afraid to open the lid).
It should form a nice elastic ball. If you think the dough is too moist, add
additional flour (a tablespoon at a time). The same is true if the dough is
looking dry and gnarly. Add warm water (a tablespoon at a time).
When dough cycle has finished, remove dough from pan and turn out onto a lightly oiled surface. Form dough into an oval, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
After resting, turn dough bottom side up and press to flatten. Shape dough into a loaf and place in a loaf pan that's been coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for approximately 30 to 60 minutes or until doubled (time can vary depending on room temperature).
Oven Rising: Sometimes I use my oven for the rising. Turn the oven on for a minute or so, then turn it off again. This will warm the oven and make it a great environment for rising bread. If you can't comfortably press your hand against the inside of the oven door, the oven is too hot. Let it stand open to cool a bit. Sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread; Always remember, the longer the rise time, the more sourdough flavor.
Cool or Refrigerator Rise: If I don't have the time
to wait for the rise to finish or I know that I will be interrupted before the
completed rise, I do a cool rise. A cool rise is when the dough is place in the
refrigerator and left to rise slowly over night approximately 8 to 12 hours. I
usually do this after the first rise and the dough has been shaped into a loaf.
As this is a longer rise time, it improves the sourdough flavor in your finished
bread.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
(A good check is to use an instant
digital thermometer to test your bread. The temperature should be between 200 and 210 degrees.)
This
is the type of thermometer that I use in my cooking.
I get many readers asking what cooking/meat thermometer that I prefer and use in my cooking
and baking. I, personally, use the
RT600C Thermometer
(show in the photo on the right). To learn more about this inexpensive excellent thermometer and to also purchase one (if you desire), just
click on the underlined: RT600C Thermometer.
