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Using a biga or poolish when making bread or pizza

I just made baguettes with a recipe that called for a poolish, fermented starter, and it blew me away. It added wonderful flavor and the dough was so easy to work with.

I only found one article on Milk Street that seemed directly related and it was about stretching a small amount of yeast (https://www.177milkstreet.com/2020/05/yeast-shortage-baking-tip). (A post Hanukkah miracle - instead of one loaf of bread, the yeast lasted for eight loaves :-)

A few questions:

  1. Is there a difference between a poolish and a biga? It seems like French/Italian terms for the same thing.
  2. Typically, when I make bread or pizza, I do a slow-rise/ferment in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Would incorporating a poolish/biga allow me to shorten that without losing the flavor development, or maybe even getting more? Would you recommend it?
  3. If I were to adjust a recipe like this, should I keep the ingredients the same? For example, if the recipe calls for 3 cups of flour and I use 1 cup for the poolish/biga, would I just use 2 cups in the rest of the recipe? Same for the liquid and pinch of yeast? (I'm hoping it's that simple). In the article above, they say it replaces the recipes yeast. For mine, I used the same amount of yeast I usually do, I just put a pinch of it in the poolish.

Thanks!

Mitch

Comments

  • Hi Mitch -

    I'll try to answer your questions in order:

    1. Different recipe authors use different terms for exactly the same pre-ferment made with commercial yeast. What one calls a biga, another refers to as a poolish (a Polish term adopted by French bakers), pâte fermentée (prefermented dough), or sponge. A levain is what one would call a pre-ferment using natural yeast (this would be like a sourdough starter). When a preferment is added to a dough, it not only accelerates fermentation but is itself a partially developed dough, which reduces mixing time. Often a poolish is more hydrated (usually 1:1 ratio of flour to water) than a biga or sponge, but there aren't any hard and fast rules on what, exactly, the hydration levels are for a biga or sponge.
    2. A lot is going to depend on how much preferment you use. For example, people use different amounts of the preferment (some even change the ratios of flour and water), change the yeast quantities, they use different water temperatures and pre-fermentation temperatures and times. Some even refrigerate it. Each combination will have its own different and unique effect on the dough (including its strength) and the finished crust characteristics, including the taste and flavor of the finished crust, and its color, texture and aroma. Whether you feel the preferment could replace the slower, cold ferment will depend on what you think about the flavor with just the preferment. Cold fermented doughs allow different types of bacterias and yeasts to flourish, which secrete acetic acid giving a generally sourer flavor. Pre-Ferments are usually done at room temperature which promotes lactic acid development.
    3. Yes, typically the small amount of yeast in the poolish would be all of the yeast in the recipe. As Matt mentions in the article above, the proofing stages of the dough will be a bit longer. And, yes, however much flour or water you use in your poolish/biga should be taken out of the total amount of flour and water.

    Hope that answers your questions sufficiently!

    Best,

    Lynn C.

  • You're the best, Lynn. Thanks! I guess I'll have to experiment. Is "too much freshly baked bread" even a thing?? :-)

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