I started a sponge for a loaf of bread.

[wildeyed]

Problem is, I was supposed to use half the flour, half the water and all the yeast for the sponge. What I actually did was use half the flour and almost all of the water. I was pouring the water in and suddenly thought, "oops!!!!".

So is my sponge salvageable, or do I need to toss it and start over? I mean does it really matter whether I add the water up front or later?

[kestrel91316]

1. Don't throw it out, just .......................

go with the flow! Consider it a culinary experiment. You might make something pleasantly different.

[wildeyed]

4. I hear you.

And I thought about doing just that. But I needed the bread and didn't want to risk waiting and then having no bread.

[housewolf]

2. Sponges for Bread

No, it won't matter that you put in almost all the water, A traditional sponge is made with all the water, half the flour and a portion of the yeast - how much depends on how long you want the sponge to ferment before mixing your dough (the more yeast the quicker the sponge matures; the longer the sponge ferments the more flavor development).

[wildeyed]

3. Argh, I threw it out already.

I am making it in the bread machine and I really need the bread today. So when I didn't get an immediate response to this thread, I scraped the mess out of the bread machine and started again.

What I need is a good book about the theory and technique of bread making. I have plenty of recipes. Do you have any recommendations?

[housewolf]

6. Bread Books

Wildeyed,

I'd love to give you a recommendation for a bread baking book, or 2, or 3, or ???

But before I do, please tell me what kind of bread you like to make, what you and your family like to eat. And (I'm sorry to say!) I forget - are you strictly a bread machine user? I know we've talked about this before but I just can't quite remember...

[wildeyed]

7. I mostly use the bread machine.

Sometimes when I am feeling perky, I make the dough on the dough setting, shape it and bake it in the oven.

I make a simple whole wheat for my children's daily consumption. Great for PBJ! Recently, I have been make a rustic french loaf from a sponge (the one I was messing up yesterday), unbleached and a little rye flour, for dinners.

I have a stand mixer, too, so I can make anything I want. I have two little kids, so the bread machine was an easy way to get into bread making without using too many brain cells.

The two bread books I have are "Bread Machine Magic" and "Rustic European Bread From Your Bread Machine". So I am covered on bread machine books.

The problems I am having, neither book is detailed enough about technique. For instance in the European bread book, they state that many of the European breads have 'wet' doughs. But then the individual recipes don't state whether that particular dough is supposed to be wet. So the dough looks sticky to me, but I don't know whether to add extra flour during the first knead cycle or not. Very confusing. Maybe if I understood the underlying theories of bread making better, I could make judgments of my own.

[Kolesar]

5. Cook a sponge?

[Tsiyu]

8. Sponge is the first "step" in some doughs.

Very few ingredients, maybe flour, water, yeast a little malt. It rises like dough would, but it's "spongier." Once it doubles, you punch it down and add your other ingredients. It allows the yeast to work without interference from the other ingredients you add later, I was taught.

[Kolesar]

9. Thank you ... eom