bread - what a rip off, page-30

I used to put a little sugar in bread and pizza doughs but not any more. I let the yeast do its job, and it seems to work okay for me.

One day I'll get around to making my own starter dough, often called the mother-dough. We've been on here a few times talking about this; basically you get some flour, along with some rye or wholemeal flour if you can, add some water and a little honey or some boiled potatoes or the starchy water. Make your mix and put it aside in a room covered with a cloth. It will begin to bubble with time as it absorbs the natural yeast that exists in the air - some fermentation will occur. Add some more flour and water as required, allow more activity, then put in a container and keep in the fridge or freeze it.

Take out of the fridge when it's needed for use, add some more flour to give it a feed where it should become active and bubble once again. Once the activity occurs, add the starter to your flour mix, knead and allow to proof as per normal; knead and proof once again in the tins needed. From this mix you take a chunk from the dough and place it in the container then keep in the fridge; the mix will be used for your next bread. Each new batch of bread will keep its DNA from the very first batch, developing complex yeast flavours with time. We have bakers in Australia that have mother-doughs that go back well over 100 years.