I've been getting back into baking since my surgery, when I had 6 weeks of nothing to do. I've got some good cookbooks, but I tend to skip over a lot of the newer bread-specific cookbooks because they keep mentioning something called 'sponge'.
I have no idea what they're talking about. The older cookbooks I have don't mention 'sponge', but the newer books utilize a lot of different types of flours where the older ones stick to white flour or, if they're going exotic, maybe whole wheat or rye.
So, to any of you bread-makers out there, if you utilize a 'sponge', can you please break it down for me in terms I can understand, without resorting to words like 'autolyse'? Do I absolutely, positively have to use 'sponge' if I want to make a loaf of bread with health-food-store flours?
About the only thing I understand from it is that somehow, 'sponge' gathers native yeast cultures. I don't know if I trust my house's yeast cultures. I mean, I don't have any problem growing mold on stuff if I leave it out on the counter for about three days, but I don't know if I want that kind of culture in my bread. How do I know that any kind of 'starter' or 'sponge' is going to selectively collect the right kind of yeast and not the random stuff that grows on my store-bought breads?
I have no idea what they're talking about. The older cookbooks I have don't mention 'sponge', but the newer books utilize a lot of different types of flours where the older ones stick to white flour or, if they're going exotic, maybe whole wheat or rye.
So, to any of you bread-makers out there, if you utilize a 'sponge', can you please break it down for me in terms I can understand, without resorting to words like 'autolyse'? Do I absolutely, positively have to use 'sponge' if I want to make a loaf of bread with health-food-store flours?
About the only thing I understand from it is that somehow, 'sponge' gathers native yeast cultures. I don't know if I trust my house's yeast cultures. I mean, I don't have any problem growing mold on stuff if I leave it out on the counter for about three days, but I don't know if I want that kind of culture in my bread. How do I know that any kind of 'starter' or 'sponge' is going to selectively collect the right kind of yeast and not the random stuff that grows on my store-bought breads?
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