I have read with interest about the 'water roux' method of making bread. The recipes I found said that the bread would be lighter, fluffier, and stay fresher longer. I am not a fluffy-bread person but I am interested in extending the life of my breads so I tried it. I used 50 gm of flour and 250 ml of water, cooked it to a smooth 'paste', let it cool, and used it in my everyday bread much as a would use a poolish. I just adjusted the amount of water in the dough but other than that I used my regular formula. The bread was faboo- great oven spring, good crumb, and yes, it remained fresh-tasting and non-moldy well past its prime. I am sold. I seem to remember in one of PR's books something about cooking the grains- perhaps this is the same reasoning. More research is needed. Just another thing to experiment in this great adventure known as 'bread making'.
June
it's one of the many things on my Bread list of "things to do". Maybe I'll bump it up!