Bread Fermented with Yeast, and Made By Public Bakers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sponge
Sift the flour into a kneading trough.
Dissolve the salt in the hot water and let it cool to 84°F (29°C).
Add the yeast to the cooled water and blend well, then strain through a sieve.
Make a hole in one-third of the flour and gradually mix in the yeast water until a stiff batter forms, free from lumps.
Level the surface, sprinkle with flour, and cover with sacks or cloths to set the sponge.
Rise and knead
Let the sponge sit for 1 to 2 hours until it doubles in size.
Once risen, mix in the remaining flour and knead for about 1 hour until it forms a dough.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sponge, producing gas that makes the dough rise.
The step that matters
Cool the salted water to 84°F (29°C) before adding the yeast. Water that is too hot can kill yeast cells or slow their activity, so the sponge may fail to rise. Cooling the water first keeps the yeast alive and fermenting at a steady pace.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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