[Sca-cooks] yeast reservoirs?

[Terry Decker]

> In the thread on pretzels, Master Cariadoc mentioned:
>
> <<< Note 3: The recipe is for a leavened bread, but
> no leavening is mentioned. My guess is that it is
> using either sourdough or a kneading trough with
> its own yeast culture. I used sourdough. >>>
>
> Interesting point about the impregnated kneading trough and a good
> thing to keep in mind when wondering if a bread is leavened or not.
>
> Anybody ever used one of these kneading troughs or something similar,
> long enough that it might become a reservoir for some yeast and then
> found that the new dough would pick up enough yeast from the trough
> that it would affect the dough?
>
> Thanks,
>   Stefan

While I've never experimented with a wooden dough trough, other experiences 
suggest that if you exploited a yeast culture embedded in a wooden dough 
trough, it would probably take a couple of days to get enough yeast to 
produce a decent rise.  A cup or two of dough left in the trough to act as a 
starter would be more practical and , in the case of a commercial baker, 
provides greater control and consistency (although the commercial starter 
would probably be closer to 5 pounds than two cups).  Leavening a lot of 
dough with a miniscule amount of yeast is largely a matter of technique, 
temperature and time.

Bear