Guidelines for Working with Sourdoughs
The key to successful baking with sourdough
starters is to limit bacterial growth and
acidification, and encourage a healthy yeast
population. In general, this means keeping
sourdough starters relatively cool, and
“refreshing” them frequently by adding new
flour and water and aerating them vigorously.
Here are rules of thumb to keep in mind.
Frozen and Par-baked Doughs and
Breads
Bread dough can be frozen, thawed, and
baked into bread, but freezing kills a large
proportion of the yeast cells, which means
less leavening power, a slower rise, and the
spread of yeast chemicals that weaken
gluten. Sweet rich doughs turn out to
freeze the best.
The best stage at which to freeze bread
dough is after the dough has risen and
baked for 70 to 80% of its usual baking