I borrowed a book from the library, World Sourdoughs From Antiquity by Ed
Wood. The book was last printed in 1996 and the terminology seems a little
different from most articles and books today. The 'First Proof" in the book
seems to be the same as a sponge technique that I picked up from following
Dusty's recipes. After 2 years of very successfully following both Dusty's
and Mike Avery's sugarless recipes, I was surprised to find that in the book
just about every recipe had at least 2 tablespoons of sugar added. Is no
sugar added something new in sourdough baking or were these recipes made to
suit the taste of the 90s?

OldGreyBob wrote:
> I was surprised to find that in the book
> just about every recipe had at least 2 tablespoons of sugar added. Is no
> sugar added something new in sourdough baking or were these recipes made to
> suit the taste of the 90s?
>

Almost all of the popular recipes with commercial yeast call for a small
amount of sugar. It is probably a carry over from that tradition. OR,
it just suited the taste of the author.

It is fair to credit the author instead of any generational change in
the taste preference of sourdough bakers.

Regards,

Charles

"Charles Perry" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
> OldGreyBob wrote:
>> I was surprised to find that in the book just about every recipe had at
>> least 2 tablespoons of sugar added. Is no sugar added something new in
>> sourdough baking or were these recipes made to suit the taste of the 90s?
>>
>
> Almost all of the popular recipes with commercial yeast call for a small
> amount of sugar. It is probably a carry over from that tradition. OR, it
> just suited the taste of the author.

Of course it depends on the size of the recipe but TWO TABLESPOONS? That
seems an awful lot for any amount of dough.

I stopped using sugar in breadmaking with yeast many years ago, it's not
necessary except for a sweet flavour.

Mary

On 27 Mar, 10:31, "Mary Fisher" > wrote:
> "Charles Perry" > wrote in message
>
> hlink.net...
>
> > OldGreyBob wrote:
> >> I was surprised to find that in the book just about every recipe had at
> >> least 2 tablespoons of sugar added. Is no sugar added something new in
> >> sourdough baking or were these recipes made to suit the taste of the 90s?
>
> > Almost all of the popular recipes with commercial yeast call for a small
> > amount of sugar. It is probably a carry over from that tradition. OR, it
> > just suited the taste of the author.
>
> Of course it depends on the size of the recipe but TWO TABLESPOONS? That
> seems an awful lot for any amount of dough.
>
> I stopped using sugar in breadmaking with yeast many years ago, it's not
> necessary except for a sweet flavour.
>
> Mary

I think adding sugar is very much a US thing. I'm still shocked at the
amount some people suggest for recipes in the US. I wouldn't put that
much into a sweet dough. You can tell by the colour which breads have
sugar in.

Jim

Oops sorry I was going to hijack the thread but decided against it but
forgot to put the subject line back.

Jim

"TG" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On 27 Mar, 10:31, "Mary Fisher" > wrote:
>> "Charles Perry" > wrote in message
>>
>> hlink.net...
>>
>> > OldGreyBob wrote:
>> >> I was surprised to find that in the book just about every recipe had
>> >> at
>> >> least 2 tablespoons of sugar added. Is no sugar added something new
>> >> in
>> >> sourdough baking or were these recipes made to suit the taste of the
>> >> 90s?
>>
>> > Almost all of the popular recipes with commercial yeast call for a
>> > small
>> > amount of sugar. It is probably a carry over from that tradition. OR,
>> > it
>> > just suited the taste of the author.
>>
>> Of course it depends on the size of the recipe but TWO TABLESPOONS? That
>> seems an awful lot for any amount of dough.
>>
>> I stopped using sugar in breadmaking with yeast many years ago, it's not
>> necessary except for a sweet flavour.
>>
>> Mary
>
> I think adding sugar is very much a US thing. I'm still shocked at the
> amount some people suggest for recipes in the US.

When I arrived in Canada, I was shocked by the amount of sugar in cake and
cookie recipes (many of them in American books) and by the cloying sweetness
of bought cakes and cookies. I NEVER follow N.American cake recipes for
that reason.
Graham