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In this usage, synonyms for sponge are yeast starter or yeast pre-ferment. [3] [note 1] In French baking the sponge and dough method is known as levain-levure. [4] The method is reminiscent of the sourdough or levain methods; however, the sponge is made from all fresh ingredients prior to being used in the final dough. [5] [note 2]
[19] [20] [21] When cooling a levain or sourdough pre-ferment, if the dough temperature drops below 10 °C (50 °F) it affects the culture and leads to the loss of a particular aroma in the baked bread. [11] To allow room for the pre-ferment to rise, the ingredients are mixed in a container at least four or five times their volume.
In the words of one online poster, "If you take flour, water, (wild) yeast and salt, and play around with time and temperature, what comes out of the oven is something utterly transformed." [2] Hobbyists often proudly share their work on social media. [7] [6] Carl's Friends have distributed more than 54,000 samples of Griffith's sourdough ...
In sourdough bread-making, cold decreases the activity of wild yeast relative to the Lactobacilli, [13] which produce flavoring products such as lactic acid and acetic acid. [14] Sourdough that is retarded before baking can result in a more sour loaf. To prevent the dough from drying, air flow in the dough retarder is kept to a minimum.
A common recipe using this starter suggests using one cup (240 ml) of it to make bread, keeping one cup to start a new cycle, and giving the remaining three cups to friends. The process of sharing the starter makes it somewhat like a chain letter. One cup of starter makes one standard loaf of bread.
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A starter may be maintained indefinitely by regular additions of flour and water. Some bakers have starters many generations old, which are said to have a special taste or texture. [54] At one time, all yeast-leavened breads were sourdoughs. Recently there has been a revival of sourdough bread in artisan bakeries. [57]
In the Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology, Michael Gaenzle writes: "One of the oldest sourdough breads dates from 3700 BCE and was excavated in Switzerland, but the origin of sourdough fermentation likely relates to the origin of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt several thousand years earlier", [3] and "Bread production relied on the use of sourdough as a leavening agent for most ...