The Fresh Loaf

News & Information for Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts

Adding yeast to a sourdough challah recipe (Glezer)?

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knit1bake1's picture

Adding yeast to a sourdough challah recipe (Glezer)?

I was planning to make Glezer's "my sourdough challah" tomorrow (for the first time), and had started refreshing my starter. It now turns out that I will have to be out of the house tomorrow, so must do my baking today. What I'd like to do is still use Glezer's starter (I've just made up the starter to be used in the final dough), and then add some yeast to the completed dough so it will rise faster, and so I can complete the challah today. What I was planning to do was add about 1/2 teaspoon of yeast to the final dough mixture. I figure then it won't need 6 hours to rise. Does this make sense? Is this the way to speed up a sourdough recipe when "real life" frustrates one's plans? thanks, Beth

chayarivka's picture

Sorry this is so late, Beth, I just saw your post. I have frequently mixed a small amount of yeast sponge into a sourdough starter. Unless you are a purist, this makes, depending on the recipe, a very high, crispy sourdough with a great crust and crumb. However, use less yeast than you normally would with a traditional yeast recipe. I make large batches, 5 pounds of flour total (or more), and I would probably add approximately two teaspoons of a yeast, warm water, and flour sponge to the sourdough.

I don't measure with this, so I guess you have to figure this out yourself. I have added all kinds of non-traditional ingredients to real sourdoughs, including eggs, honey, rice syrup, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.