this is an excellent article using purple cabbage of all things to make a great sourdough starter.  I plan to try it next time I'm at the store looking at cabbage!  found on ruhlman.com  .........................

http://ruhlman.com/2009/07/simple-sourdough-starter/

A common technique to achieve a good flavour in bread is to make an overnight sponge with half the flour, all the water and the yeast. But I always mix everything, knead and then put in the fridge overnight. Is there any advantage to the sponge method compared to my straight dough with long bulk ferment technique?

I was told that the reason for putting only half the flour in the sponge was because the baker didn't know exactly how much bread to make until the next day. The sponge still helped develop the flavour but it saved having to throw away a lot of dough if demand was lower than expected. Since I know exactly how much bread I need to make I might as well use the straight dough method. Any thoughts?

Richard.

Yesterday I was researching various rye bread formulas and techniques trying to come up with something I could make with what I have on hand (dark rye flour and from a sour dough culture). I was thinking of a Jewish or a German Rye. The Bread Baker's Apprentice was a little help but still didn't have a formula to go on. Several years ago a friend (he was the head baker in the first bakery I use to work at) gave me his formulas, study guides and notes from when he attended Dunwoody Institute back in the early 1960's. I pulled those formulas out and found one for a Sponge Dark Sour Rye.  Here are the results.  2 of the 3-1 1/2 # loaves.  Baked 2 tonight and will bake the 3rd in the morning.

.

Hi,

I made a sponge last night and it says to let it preferment between 65 & 70 degrees.  I made the sponge at 10PM last night and right now it is 8:37AM.  My house temp right now is almost 80 degrees.  I don't think I should wait any longer to start mixing my bread, but am not sure.  Any  help on this would be appreciated.

I've got a sandwich loaf recipe here that calls for a preferment that uses all of the water and a final dough that includes powdered milk, which I never have on hand.

The preferment is supposed to be very slack, batter like and fermented for up to 24 hours at room temp before use.

I know that the higher the hydration the faster a sponge develops, but would there be any obvious problem (enzyme action, black magic, bad juju?) using whole milk in the sponge instead of water and omitting the final dough's dry milk?

Thanks!

Hi!

I've been reading a lot of posts here and learning about bread baking. I'm new to this and I learn with every post. :) Love this site!!

I'd like to adapt a recipe my grandmother used to make. I'd like to use a sponge to increase fermentation time and develop flavor. It's a brioche-like bread and it uses A LOT of yeast! (Sorry it's in cups, it's the original recipe).

Recipe:

30 g instant yeast

1/4 cup of water

6 cups flour

5 eggs

1 can of condensed milk (the one that has sugar)

5 yolks

250 g butter

2 tablespoons orange blossom water

1 Egg (for eggwash)

Dissolve yeast in water and add 1/2 cup of flour. Let rest for 15 min. To the rest of the flour add eggs, condensed milk, yolks, butter and orange blossom water. Add the yeast mixture. Knead until it doesn't stick to the table. Ferment until it doubles. Divide in 4 pieces. Shape and proof until it doubles. Apply eggwash and bake (200ºC/390ºF)

I'd like to know how to adapt it for using a sponge. Rose Levy Beranbaum uses eggs in her sponges for brioche. Should I? How many? How do I go about the yeast? I know I need to use less yeast if using a sponge, how much? (I'd like to use less yeast anyway).

Thanks in advance

I am on the sponge stage of my Pain de Campagne from The Bread Bible. This is my first experience with it. It has doubled, almost tripled, in my 4 quart container and is nearly hitting the plastic wrap on top. What should I do?

I've just recently purchased the BBA book by Reinhart and I was wanting to make some bagels. I've tried making the sponge three times and seem unable to get the right texture. Reinhart describes it being like pancake batter and my sponge looks more like a thick lumpy mass. It doesn't foam up or double in size within two hours. Does anyone know why the constancy of the sponge appears to be substantially thicker then pancake batter?

-k

I am a newbie trying to follow Eckhardt and Butts' recipe for pain au levain.  In step 1 you create a sourdough starter.  In step 2 the starter is used to create a sponge.  In step 3 the sponge is used to create a dough.  The recipe suggests that you set aside a cup of the dough for future breads.  However, I am not clear whether, for the new bread, this leftover cup is the starter for the sponge (step 1) or the sponge for the dough (step 2).  Also, do you use it all or do you use the amount that is indicated for the starter (or for the sponge).

Hello again! Its me with another question. :) I'm always asking questions and never answering anyones, though I really do appreciate the answers I got. Thanks to all who commented.

What I would like to know is what exactly does sponging do? And I read in a bread recipe that sponging makes whole wheat bread lighter, and a little more airy. I've never sponged anything. I'd love to make sourdough bread, but alas I've no sourdough starter so it will have to wait. :) I will sometime though.

So anyone who knows anything about this topic, I'd love to hear what you've got to say.

From an earnest bread maker,
    -Ra'chel