King Arthur Sourdough recipe
I am contemplating making the King Arthur recipe, Merlin's Magic Sourdough. Here is the link to the recipe. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/merlins-magic-sourdough-bread-recipe
My question is this... The recipe calls for 1 cup of starter AND 2 teaspoons instant yeast. The sponge calls for 3 cups of the flour. KA wants you to let the sponge rest for up to 24 hours. That is an awful lot of yeast to rest for that long of a period unrefrigerated. Would I refrigerate the sponge after a couple of hours? Then the recipe says to let the dough rise up to 12 hours for maximum flavor. Again, would that be refrigerated? I can't imagine the pile of dough you would have on the counter after 12 hours with all of that yeast going to town. Plus, if not refrigerated, wouldn't the yeast eat all of the sugar?
Heidi, I can't give you a "technical" response; but I looked at the comments following the recipe and didn't see any problems mentioned like the ones you are worrying about. The KA people know their stuff, so I'd go ahead and try it out. Read through the comments and see if you agree. You can send me a "pile of dough" if it doesn't work out.
P.S. I just finished some loaves where the sponge sat out overnight, and it only rose modestly. I can't answer the question about retarding (refrigerating). In my case, I retard the shaped loaves, rather than the sponge.
GregS
Like you said, the KA people know their stuff, so I'll try it. After all, 'it is just dough, not birth control' as another baker on TFL said at one point. If it doesn't work, I'll try again some other way. Thanks for the reply!!!
Hello:
I made these loafs a couple of days ago. No problem whatsoever in allowing the 24 hour rise for the sponge.
It tripples and falls. Of course, the 18 hour retard of the final dough posed no difficulty.
The result was a good solid sourness, which I wanted.
I made a mistake with the final proofing, I did not allow the dough to double--I should have allowed more time.
Good sourness but very dense.
Harry
I did not refrigerate the 24 hour preferment nor the 12 hour final rise and as I feared the yeast ate all the sugar. It was a very dense, pale and sour loaf. The geese liked it though.