On 8/23/06, Andrew Price > wrote:
> On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:24:22 -0600, "Mike Avery"
> > wrote:
> >Given that almost all breads made before the mid 1800's were sourdough
> >breads

> Is that when the use of yeast started to become wide-spread?

Yes. Fresh yeast became available in the mid to late 1800's. At that
point, bakers rejoiced that they would no longer have to get up at all
hours to feed their starters and left sourdough behind in ever
increasing numbers.

A bit later, they noticed two problems. Their bread no longer tasted
as good and they had to pay the yeast company every time they made
bread. Sourdough starters are essentially free to a bakery - all the
flour and water that are used to feed them are turned into bread.

>From this came pre-ferment techniques such as poolish, biga and
autolyse to help address these issues.

Mike