"Aaron" > wrote in message=20
...

> I've tried letting the sponge sit for 24 hours before
> use. I've also tried allowing the dough to rise a full three times
> before baking. So far, no luck. Is it because I'm using only=20
> wheat flours? =20

It is a mystery. You have reportedly conducted two procedures=20
each of which, in my hands, and with Carl's starter and with others,=20
would produce sour bricks.

With reference to the diagram at=20
http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/di...rowthcurve.GIF
which depicts yeast growth in sourdough (and many other things)
incubating the sponge long enough so that the curve flattens should
favor bacterial activity as it lags (by my theory) yeast growth. Dough
from that, being deficient in yeast activity, would not rise well.

Punching down (deflating, reshaping, etc.) of the final dough, on the
other hand, done three times, would, I'd suspect, might past the
curve bend-over for dough without having much gas left to sustain
the rise.

My experience is with bread flour, but I do not see that WW flour
would behave differently, except for not rising so well, for several
reasons. Some might say it has more buffering capability on account
of higher ash, but that's a bit beyond my ken.

--=20
Dick Adams
<firstname> dot <lastname> at bigfoot dot com
___________________
Sourdough FAQ guide at=20
http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughfaqs.html