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?

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

> 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

>zxcvbob wrote:
>
>> 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.


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PENMART01 wrote:
>>zxcvbob wrote:
>>
>>
>>>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 wrote:
> PENMART01 wrote:
>> [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 wrote:

> 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