Having raised this question before, I feel entitled to brag--I finally
did it! After years of occasional attempts with various starters, I
got a nice well-risen loaf out of my original model DAK yesterday. I
have no idea what caused the success, but I suspect it is that I have
never before run a starter as long as my current one (two years; it's
a mixture of potato water and bread flour *only* in equal proportions
fed with plain water and flour when used), and perhaps it's just now
up to full strength. I used this recipe:
3 c. King Arthur white flour
1 1/2 cup starter
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
I had the starter out on top of our hot water heater for about 20
hours before I started the bread. My starter is quite liquid; your
proportions of flour to starter may well be different (I had a bunch
of flops until I found these proportions worked for me), and you may
need to add water if your starter is thick. I used the good old
regular cycle. I bring this all up only for those who may, as I did,
have had the ambition to make a real sour dough bread at least once.