A bread starter, also called a "sponge," consists of a simple mixture of flour, water, and a leavening agent (typically yeast or yogurt), and is added to bread dough before the kneading and baking process as a substitute for yeast. The advantage of a starter is that it produces chewier bread with a crunchier crust, and helps maintain the freshness of the bread. The starter ingredients are mixed in a container at least three times bigger than the ingredients, to allow plenty of room for the starter to grow. The starter is left sitting at room temperature for anywhere from ten hours to three days before being added to the dough. Starters typically last three to five days, but this time can be extended through refrigeration by providing more water and flour when it is ready to be used. Look up flour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A girl in a swimming pool full of water Water (from the Old English waeter; c. ... Yeasts constitute a group of single-celled (unicellular) fungi, a few species of which are commonly used to leaven bread, ferment alcoholic beverages, and even drive experimental fuel cells. ... Yoghurt Yoghurt or yogurt, less commonly yoghourt or yogourt, is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. ... European sweetbread (strucla) Four loaves French bread has a somewhat rigid crust Breads and Bread Rolls at a bakery Continental Italian Bread Tin Vienna Bread Bread in a traditional oven, in Portugal, with hot coal in front For other uses, see Bread (disambiguation). ... Kneading is a process in the making of bread, used to mix together the ingredients and add strength to the bread. ... Refrigeration (from the Latin frigus, frost) is generally the cooling of a body by the transfer of a portion of its heat away from it. ...