Is there any relationship, at least in principle and end result, between the Monheimer salt sponge process and CLAS? I'm thinking of the Monheimer method's yeast retardation in favor of LAB development and intense souring over a long, warm initial ferment, followed by the use of cultured yeast in the final dough.
I haven't used it yet, but there are similarities! Very high acidity in both, stay usable for a long time after refreshment. Obviously, what's different is that CLAS has no yeast and no salt.
Rus Brot likes Monheim sourdough, says it's the best way to make single-stage rye bread:
http://brotgost.blogspot.com/2016/01/salzsauer.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPK3ACdP1iU
Cool, thanks, Ilya. No yeast - ever? I thought it was added in to the final dough as the leavening component, after the intensive LAB development/yeast retardation.
What I meant is that the CLAS itself has no yeast in it. Unlike Monheim sourdough, which does. Both require addition of yeast to the dough.
The Monheimer I used from brotdoc doesn't -
I just looked up Ginsberg, and there's no yeast there, either. That's what seemed so similar to me (though I only know just a bit from you and Yippee - the idea, more than anything else, not the procedure). The comparative suppression of yeast and encouragement of LABs/souring over the initial period, followed by cultured yeast in the final dough.
Stiff rye starter contains yeast, so the whole sourdough will have yeast. No commercial yeast, if that's what you mean, that's true.
On the other hand, CLAS is made in a way that suppresses yeast from the beginning and doesn't let them grow, so it doesn't have any yeast in it.
OK, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification, Ilya. Interesting.