[Sca-cooks] Re: Sourdough's

[Druighad at aol.com]

My mundane work is as a baker for Panera/St. Louis Bread Co. We have a
facility  that makes all of our sour doughs from a sponge or mother. I
personally think this an excellent way to get a dough started as you get a
consistant dough as long as you continue to add to the mother every day. We
let ours ferment in large plastic garbage cans to ensure that no extra
metallic flavors come into the dough, and it makes for a consistantly
xcellent product. There's nothing wrong with using wild yeast, but as it has
been said, it makes for a very unconsistant bread.

Most commercial bakeries have a proofer that keeps dough at an appropiate
temperature and have a built in humidifier. No manual misting required. I
would hate to have to proof my sour for 3 hours and then keep misting it
every half hour by hand. That would just be a pain.

So people realize, the sourdough has to be at the right age. Too young
doesn't produce blistering and the sour smell and taste, and too old kills
the yeast. Like all breads, there has to be enough food(sugar, glucose,
cellulose, etc.) for the yeast to multiply and grow. Thats what causes the
rising process.

Finnebhir.