because the rise time of most sourdough starters is longer than that of breads made with baker's yeasts, sourdough starters are generally unsuitable for use in a bread machine. however, sourdough that has been proved over many hours, using a sourdough starter or mother dough, can then be transferred to the machine, utilizing only the baking segment of the bread-making program, bypassing timed mechanical kneading by the machine's paddle. this may be convenient for single loaf production, but the complex blistered and slashed crust characteristics of oven-baked sourdough bread cannot be achieved in a bread making machine, as this usually requires the use of a baking stone in the oven and misting of the dough to produce steam. furthermore, ideal crust development requires loaves of shapes not achievable in a machine's loaf tin.