leavening one batch of bread with a "chef" from another

zxcvbob said:

If I save a ping-pong ball sized piece of the dough, will
that have enough yeast in it to leaven a batch of pizza
dough tonight?

It won't contain enough yeast to fully leaven it. The method
you're describing is more to improve texture and flavor.
You'll need to add more yeast.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot)
com

Quoted message said:

zxcvbob said:

If I save a ping-pong ball sized piece of the dough, will
that have enough yeast in it to leaven a batch of pizza
dough tonight?

Chop your dough ball into bits and stir into a 4 cup bowl to
which you've placed a cupful of warm water, to which you've
stirred in a tablespoonful of sugar and three tablespoons of
flour... cover with a clean cloth and place in a warm
spot... after about an hour or two you should have a nice
sponge containing enough yeast for a couple of pizzas. Of
course I've no idea how long off your "tonight" is but I
know I'd be eating pizza in about six hours... wouldn't be
the ideal pizza crust, but decently edible... and then you
may be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, you got somewhere
better to put that ball of dough.

So where did that ball of dough come from... next time
you're low on yeast and want to bake more than your
available yeast can handle, first make up a sponge.

---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =--- ---= Move UNITED
NATIONS To Paris =--- Sheldon ```````````` "Life would be
devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

PENMART01 said:

Quoted message said:

zxcvbob said:

If I save a ping-pong ball sized piece of the dough, will
that have enough yeast in it to leaven a batch of pizza
dough tonight?

Chop your dough ball into bits and stir into a 4 cup bowl
to which you've placed a cupful of warm water, to which
you've stirred in a tablespoonful of sugar and three
tablespoons of flour... cover with a clean cloth and place
in a warm spot... after about an hour or two you should
have a nice sponge containing enough yeast for a couple of
pizzas. Of course I've no idea how long off your "tonight"
is but I know I'd be eating pizza in about six hours...
wouldn't be the ideal pizza crust, but decently edible...
and then you may be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, you got
somewhere better to put that ball of dough.

So where did that ball of dough come from... next time
you're low on yeast and want to bake more than your
available yeast can handle, first make up a sponge.

I pinched it from a batch of whole wheat bread that I'm
making before I formed the loaf. I have another packet of
yeast, but I want to experiment.

I chopped little ball of dough up and dissolved it in a cup
of warm water. Added the 2 cups of bread flour, heaping 1/2
tsp of salt, and about 2 Tbsp olive oil. Kneaded for about 5
minutes in the Kitchenaid. I can't tell if it's gonna rise
or not yet. I probably should have given it a little
molasses so the yeast wouldn't have to work so hard.

-Bob

zxcvbob said:

PENMART01 said:

[snip]

So where did that ball of dough come from... next time
you're low on yeast and want to bake more than your
available yeast can handle, first make up a sponge.

I pinched it from a batch of whole wheat bread that I'm
making before I formed the loaf. I have another packet of
yeast, but I want to experiment.

I chopped little ball of dough up and dissolved it in a
cup of warm water. Added the 2 cups of bread flour,
heaping 1/2 tsp of salt, and about 2 Tbsp olive oil.
Kneaded for about 5 minutes in the Kitchenaid. I can't
tell if it's gonna rise or not yet. I probably should have
given it a little molasses so the yeast wouldn't have to
work so hard.

-Bob

The dough rose nicely, eventually. It took a few hours for
the yeast to reproduce enough rise the dough. It's ready to
bake right now but I think I'll punch it down and
refrigerate it and bake it tomorrow.

Best regards, Bob

zxcvbob said:

I'm baking whole wheat bread today. It just started its
second rise.

I'm out of bulk yeast and used a packet that I found in
the fridge. It was a couple of years old, but it is rising
very well.

If I save a ping-pong ball sized piece of the dough, will
that have enough yeast in it to leaven a batch of pizza
dough tonight?

Sure it will - with a little help. You'll want to feed it so
the yeast grows. I'd mix it with an equal volume of warm
water (110F), some sugar or malt, a handful of flour and a
small pinch of salt. A dash of oil wouldn't hurt.

If using the entire thing, factor the liquid volume in your
calculations for the pizza dough. Subtract it from how much
you'd use normally and just add the difference when making
the final dough. Should work fine.

Or treat it like a sponge and just use some of it in the
normal sponge-leavened fashion.

Pastorio