Rising in a linen lined basket
I enjoy using biga, poolish, and pate fermentee whenever possible. These easy methods give bread a great flavor without having to use up fridge space with a long overnight/two day proofing. You can do a long proof or ferment and get even better results, but most people won’t notice much of a difference. Below is a poolish bread recipe that I have made a few times with great results. I have used this recipe for baguettes and boules. Both turned out great. For a different boule texture substitute 40% of the flour with Semolina.
Start with a poolish. (Poolish is a very wet pre-ferment)
100% flour
178% water
0.5-1% yeast (the amount of yeast you use will depend on how much time you ferment)
I generally allow a poolish to ferment on the counter for 4-8 hours. It works to put your poolish in the fridge over night so that you can use it the following day. Retarding in the fridge allows you to relax and not worry that your yeast is eating too quickly.
Total dough percentages
100% flour
54% water
20% poolish
1% yeast
2% salt
This dough recipe will produce a dough with a hydration level of 66-68%
For a 900 gram dough:
508 g Flour
274 g Water
102 g Poolish
5 g Yeast
10 g Salt
Exactly 102 grams of poolish, I would suggest making more because you always lose some when transferring:
36 g Flour
66 g Water
0.5 g Yeast
Mix all of your ingredients and allow for autolyse. This will make sure that your flour is fully hydrated and you won’t ruin too much of the work that your poolish has already done.
In a stand mixer mix for 3-5 minutes. Your dough should be around 80 degrees and it should pass the windowpane test.
Place dough in a lightly oiled container and allow to double in volume. This should take an hour or so. At this point you have a choice. You can either shape into a boule and allow to proof for an hour and then bake or you can do a second ferment and allow your dough to retard in the refridgerator overnight. Allowing bread a second ferment will produce rich buttery flavors. However, skipping a second ferment will still produce a great bread.
After your bread has been shaped into a boule allow it to proof for an hour or until a thumbprint on the side won’t bounce back. Cut the top of your bread, traditionally in an X shape.
Allow an hour for your oven to heat to 475.
Put your boule into the oven, directly onto a baking stone if you have one, and steam for 2 minutes at 475. (You can create steam by heating an iron skillet in your oven and then throwing ice onto it right before you are going to shut the door. You can also mist water onto the walls of your oven. Be careful not to get cold water on your hot baking stone. I use both methods.) Spray water onto your boule and walls and bake for 2 more minutes. Steam one last time and bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. After 30 minutes check the internal temperature of your bread. It should read 190-205 degrees. (The thump test works but it isn’t that accurate.)
Yield 1 large boule or 2 smaller boules/3 medium batards
What is a winowpane test, please?
The windowpane test helps you determine if your dough has developed enough gluten to hold a shape. You perform the windowpane test by taking a walnut sized piece of dough, after you have kneeded it, and gently stretching it until you can see light through it. If your dough just rips then you need to kneed longer.
Wow I am literally the only comment to this awesome writing!
Thank you Addie. I haven’t been writing as much on here because I didn’t have very many followers. It felt like I was speaking to myself. Maybe I will come back with a vengence this summer, because I will have more free-time. I’m a teacher.
Hi – excellent article! I am wondering however why you choose to through ice in a skillet pan to create steam. With the bread that I’ve made before I have used boiling water into a hot pan…
Also, have you tried using this recipe with a natural yeast starter? (I created a starter from grapes in flour and water). I find that proving takes longer than using commercial yeast, but that texture of the bread seems almost more softer/velverty…
Throwing ice into the hot skillet creates sublimation–solid to gas–and this makes instant steam. Putting hot water into the skillet works but it leaves a pool of water and it cools the metal quickly. Throwing ice in makes more steam than pool.
I have a question about the highly hydrated poolish. When I search about this, I found that some people had a problem. That is the water and flour separate when making the highly hydrated poolish. Can you share your experience?
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/12366/too-wet-poolish
Honestly, I have never had a problem with this. The only time I have seen water and flour separate is when making a sourdough starter, and most of that water is hooch. I have made poolishes with a 100%-100% ratio of water to flour and many with 178%-100% water to flour ratio. Never have they separated. Maybe it separated after it was left out past 18 hours? A high hydratation poolish should be used within 12 hours otherwise it should be throw into your fridge.