August 24, 2014 - 1:00pm
cold fermented biga
there's this, but the thread hasn't been active in many years. Dunno if he's still here. I've posted him a private message. Time will tell.
I've been playing with ciabatta and variations. I recently made a poolish based ciabatta that was a forum post on TFL, by J Monkey.
It's based on a Hammelman recipe or book.
It's very good, though the eyes were a bit small. But it's in the right direction. A search first, revealed this old post.
Other than what these posts revealed, are there any other thoughts with regard to long cold ferment of the poolish or biga for ciabatta?
Our fridge sits at 37℉. Could I cold ferment my biga for say 5 or more days for more flavor? Or build it for flavor?
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I've been using hi hydration sponge for my loaf breads for quite some time. Got started with a Silverton grape sponge. But I killed it and haven't been able to source quality organic local red grapes to go again. So I use a flour sponge.
Does work rather well. By I don't long ferment the dough anymore. It was no better then a 30 min rise.
But ciabatta is a different beast. Next time out I'm gonna try 4 or 5 days. I usually go that long cold fermenting my pizza dough. Works nice, but not as wet as ciabatta.
I am seeking some advice re 100% wholemeal recipe which I have appended below, this is now my daily bread, I use a little more water than indicated.
What is the advantage of a Biga method here, in the past when using 50/50 wholemeal and white I have soaked the wholemeal for up to 24 hours.
Using this recipe I soak both separately for 24 hours, could I not combine the sponge and soaker for that time and add the other ingredients for the final dough?
I would be interested in any comments.
Sponge/Biga
8 ounces whole-wheat flour
1/4 tsp (.03 ounces) instant yeast
3/4 cup (6 ounces) cool water
Soaker
8 ounces whole-wheat flour,
1/2 tsp (0.14 ounces) kosher or sea salt
1/2 to 2/3 cup (4 to 5 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 tbsp (1 ounce) orange juice
Final Dough
All of Sponge recipe
All of Soaker recipe
1 tsp (1/8 ounce) salt
2 1/4 tsp (1/4 ounce; 1 standard packet) instant yeast
1 tbsp (1/2 ounce) unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp (1 ounce) honey
Extra flour and water for adjustments
I don't know the answer, but my understanding is that the soaker has salt, and you want to keep that away from the biga during the cold ferment. Your recipe has similarities to Reinharts master recipe in his book Whole Grain Breads - the biga goes into the fridge immediately, and the soaker is allowed to stay at room temp if it is to be used within a day. On baking day, everything is brought to room temp, then mixed, kneaded, final proof, then bake.
Thanks for reply, as the salt is not added until the final dough, apart from the initial half a teaspoon, I do not see that as a problem, even if the half teaspoon of salt was omitted at the soaking stage, I doubt that would make much difference in 16 oz (460g) of flour; I could be wrong, have been before.