I have a question on making sponges. When I first started making sourdough
bread, none of my recipes had the intermediate step of creating a sponge
first. Most of my breads were so-so to good to very good. In trying to
branch out a little more, I tried some recipes that I got from the Internet
with help from this news group. I tried Opa's Sourdough Ciabatta and Opa's
Rye Bread. Both of these recipes use the intermediate step of creating a
sponge and both of these breads were fantastic in texture and taste. Since
in general the ingredients are not that much different than earlier recipes
without a sponge step, is it the sponge step that is making the difference?
Or could it be that for a semi-experienced baker, the sponge step just makes
the difference?