Sponge and dough
The sponge and dough method is a two-step bread making process: in the first step a sponge is made and allowed to ferment for a period of time, and in the second step the sponge is added to the rest of the ingredients; this is known as the final dough.[1] In this usage, synonyms for sponge are yeast starter or yeast pre-ferment.[2][note 1] In French baking the sponge and dough method is known as levain-levure.[3] The method has similarities to the sourdough or levain methods; however, unlike those methods that save some portion of the old starter or mother dough and recycle it into a refreshed starter, keeping the old culture alive for a number of generational cycles, the sponge is made from all fresh ingredients prior to being used in the final dough.[4]
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[edit] Method
A sponge ferment is usually a sticky process that combines part of the flour, part or all of the water, and part or all of the yeast used in a recipe: any additional ingredients in the total formula are later added to the final dough.[5][6] While the relative amounts of ingredients used vary between recipes, the method remains the same.
A generic example of a sponge and dough formula using bakers' percentages:
| adapted from Young and Cauvain's Table 2.3[7] | |||||
| Sponge | & | Dough | = | Final | |
| % | % | Dough | |||
| Flour | 65 | + | 35 | = | 100% |
| Water | 40 | + | 25 | = | 65% |
| Sugar | 0 | + | 6 | = | 6% |
| Milk solids | 0 | + | 3 | = | 3% |
| Fat | 0 | + | 3 | = | 3% |
| Yeast | 2.4 | + | 0 | = | 2.4% |
| Salt | 0 | + | 2.3 | = | 2.3% |
One significant decision the baker must make when designing such a formula, or adapting a direct or straight-dough formula or recipe, is to decide the sponge-to-dough flour ratio.[7]
The sponge's fermentation time depends on its temperature and that of the surrounding area, the ingredients used, and the percentage amount of yeast. It ferments in a humid environment at 74–78 °F (23–26 °C), where it will rise and expand to 4-5 times its original volume, when it falls it has reached 66-70% of its allotted time.[8] Once the sponge is combined with the dough creating the final dough, the gluten is developed in the mixing or kneading process. It may be processed through further work and rest cycles before being proofed then baked.
[edit] Purpose
The sponge method is used for 3 different reasons: taste, texture and chemistry.
The flavour that is created is dependent on the ingredients used and the fermenting yeast. Just like sourdough, the longer the ferment, the greater the taste difference.
Sponge doughs were used before bread improvers were invented. Texture is partly a byproduct of the chemistry going on in the fermentation, which does several important things such as activate the different enzymes (protease and amylase) needed to leaven bread. Modern grain-harvesting practices have reduced the naturally-occurring enzymes that grains had in former times, a result of no-longer-used grain-storage processes,[9] so today small amounts of enzymes are routinely added to flour by manufacturers,[10] often in the form of malted barley or sprouted grain.
Proteases, dependent on their time of action and concentration levels,[11] soften the gluten in the dough, hydrolyzing peptide bonds,[12] increasing dough extensibility which allows the protein matrix to stretch out as the mix expands, thus leading to increased baked volumes and better structure.[13]
[edit] Products
Many bread recipes call for a sponge method, especially traditional French breads. Some examples of breads that use the sponge method:
[edit] Notes
- ^ The phrases "yeast starter" and "yeast pre-ferment" may be considered oxymoronic when the context of "starter" and "pre-ferment" are referring to natural yeast or sourdough leavens which include relatively large populations of lactic acid bacteria.
[edit] References
- ^ Young, Linda; Cauvain, Stanley P. (1998). Technology of Breadmaking. Berlin: Springer. p. 29. ISBN 0-8342-1685-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=qJiSXi0vgXoC&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Griffin, Mary Annarose; Gisslen, Wayne (2005). Professional baking. New York: John Wiley. p. 69. ISBN 0-471-46427-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=YrQZi41PqKEC&pg=PA69#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Calvel, Raymond (2001). The taste of bread. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers. p. 42. ISBN 0-8342-1646-9.
- ^ Young, Linda; Cauvain, Stanley P. (2007). Technology of Breadmaking. Berlin: Springer. p. 90. ISBN 0-387-38563-0.
- ^ Handbook of food science, technology, and engineering. 4. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis. 2006. p. 148-35. ISBN 0-8493-9849-5.
- ^ Griffin, Mary Annarose; Gisslen, Wayne (2005). Professional baking. New York: John Wiley. p. 75. ISBN 0-471-46427-9.
- ^ a b Young, Linda; Cauvain, Stanley P. (1998). Technology of Breadmaking. Berlin: Springer. p. 30. ISBN 0-8342-1685-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=qJiSXi0vgXoC&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010 Dec 29.
- ^ Food processing: principles and applications. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Pub. 2004. p. 194. ISBN 0-8138-1942-3.
- ^ Murray, Maynard; Howell, Edward (1985). Enzyme nutrition: the food enzyme concept. Wayne, N.J: Avery Pub. Group. pp. 39–41. ISBN 0-89529-221-1.
- ^ Nanna A. Cross; Corke, Harold; Ingrid De Leyn; Nip, Wai-Kit (2006). Bakery products: science and technology. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 345. ISBN 0-8138-0187-7.
- ^ Woods, L. F, J.; Tucker, G. S. L. (1995). Enzymes in food processing. London: Blackie Academic & Professional. pp. 204–206. ISBN 0-7514-0249-4.
- ^ Stauffer, Clyde E. (1990). Functional additives for bakery foods. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. p. 136. ISBN 0-442-00353-6.
- ^ Wolfgang Aehle (2007). Enzymes in Industry: Production and Applications. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. pp. 109–111. ISBN 3-527-31689-2.
