Sponge mixing dough method

zaq

Sun, Jan 29 2023, 7:16 pm

No, it's not. Sourdough is like having a demanding pet: you have to supervise it, feed it, and keep it going whether you make bread or not. And if you don't make bread, the starter grows and grows and grows till it can be a stand-in for The Blob That Ate Chicago.

The sponge method is simply a longer way of mixing single batches of dough. The "sponge" or pre-ferment is a mix of the ingredients with just a part of the flour, which you let rise for half an hour to several hours before adding the rest of the flour, then mixing and kneading. IOW, nothing is left over for the next batch. It's all fresh and you use up the entire thing at once, and you do not get a sour taste.

The longer pre-ferment supposedly allows the flavor to develop more fully and makes the dough easier to handle. I don't know that either of these claims is true, but that's what the pros say. What I do know is that if your sponge fails to rise, you waste only part of the flour if you throw it out. Of course, if you proof your yeast before adding the other ingredients, then if it poops out, the most you waste is the yeast itself.