The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [29]
PREPARING THE SPONGE
SPONGE INGREDIENTS
1 to 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (⅛–¼ oz or 3.5–7 g)
¼ cup warm water (60 ml)
6 cups high-gluten bread flour (900 g)
1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g)
2 ½ cups cold water (600 ml)
¼ cup malt syrup or other sweetener (60 ml)
When the sponge is to stand for 16 to 18 hours, use the smaller amount of yeast and very cold water (refrigerated or iced, if necessary, to make sure it is 40°F). Use the larger quantity of yeast and cold tap water (about 50°F) when you ferment the sponge for 10 to 12 hours.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the cold water, the yeast, and the malt syrup to the well, mixing them all into a medium-stiff dough.
Knead the sponge by hand for 10 minutes only. A sponge needs enough developing to trap the gas, but since it will get more kneading in the full dough, you don’t want to develop it fully now.
Place your sponge in a container large enough to hold about three times its bulk. Cover it closely to protect the top from drying out, and place in a cool, reasonably draft-free place. A sponge is ready when it has risen fully and begun to fall back or recede in the bowl. (In fact it looks very spongy.) However, there is a range of several hours during which you can go on to the next step and still get good results.
MIXING THE DOUGH
DOUGH INGREDIENTS
3 ½ cups warm water (825 ml)
4 ½ teaspoons salt (25 g)
⅓ cup honey (80 ml)
⅓ cup oil (optional) (80 ml)
6 cups whole wheat bread flour (900 g)
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (450 g) or other low-gluten flour
For one large batch of dough, you will need a giant bowl, about 12 quarts. Put the warm water, salt, honey and oil in the bowl. Break the sponge into little pieces in the liquid, and stir in the flour. Now press the dough hard, first with one fist, then the other to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Feel the dough to evaluate its water content, and if it is too stiff, add water, ½ cup at a time, working it in until the dough reaches the proper consistency. This takes considerable effort, no doubt about it.
Knead the whole dough for 400 strokes or about 20 athletic minutes, until the surface is smooth and shiny. Rest whenever you need to, but if it’s easier, divide the dough into more manageable pieces and knead them separately.
Let the dough rise in the bowl for an hour in a warm place, 80° to 85°F. Deflate it, and let it rise again for another 45 minutes to one hour.
If you have not already done so, divide the dough into five pieces, round them, and let them rest, covered, for about 10 minutes, until relaxed; then shape into loaves. Put them in greased 8″ 4″ pans. If you like, you can make traditional Scottish batch bread: four long loaves (instead of five) baked together in a 108″ 16″ pan. They will rise to support each other, making the characteristic tall skinny domed loaves. (Butter the sides to make separating them easier.)
Let the loaves rise in a warm place—85° to 90°F.
If your oven does not hold five loaves at once, put two of them in the refrigerator now in a puffed-up plastic bag. These loaves will rise slowly, and should be ready to bake as soon as the first loaves come out of the oven. Two can bake together in an 8″ 8″ pan—a little of each method.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Breads made from long-rising doughs are moister than those from short-rising ones, so they need to bake at a higher temperature or for a longer time. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes for the pan loaves. You may need as much as an hour and a half at 350°F for the batch bread.
VARIATIONS
To prepare different kinds of breads from the one large dough, or to knead each part separately, divide the sponge into five equal parts, and do the same with the dough ingredients. Proceed with