The Fresh Loaf

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Converting straight dough to preferment

KenK's picture
KenK

Converting straight dough to preferment

I'm thinking about trying a couple of the roll recipes I make with a preferment instead of mixing all at once.

They both have dry milk and butter, one has potato buds.  What about taking a third of the flour (4-5 ounces) and making a 100% poolish that works overnight?  This obviously works well with lean dough.  Any problem with the enriched doughs? 

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

This thread is about a very rich recipe(could it be much richer) made with a straight dough:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9780/mark-sinclair039s-portuguese-sweet-bread-and-rolls

A couple of posts after the recipe, the creator provides a link to his version with a preferment(a stiffer biga).

You can see him working the dough and making the rolls here, the portuguese sweet bread:

http://thebackhomebakery.com/Tutorials.html

Your post caught my eye since I started on this recipe yesterday. My biga is about ripened, but I may just stick it in the fridge. Don't think I feel like making the rest quite yet.

KenK's picture
KenK

Thanks Dwight. 

I'm trying to balance the amount of enrichment to suit my taste.   I keep thinking once I get the recipe just like I want it; I can make it from now on but I'm not sure that is possible.  On the other hand I've eaten the same thing for breakfast 360 days a year for the past ten years so maybe I will.

If the final dough is 1/3 white whole wheat and 2/3 ap; I wonder if there would be any advantage to using one or the other for the preferment?

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Can't say. I just made this KAF recipe that used both.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sharing-bread-recipe

janij's picture
janij

I would pre ferment the whole wheat flour.  I would hold any enrichments til the final mix.  I used a Milk Bread recipe this Thanksgiving from The Secrets of a Jewish Baker.  The recipe calls for a sponge to sit 30-45 min.  I cut the yeast from 2 T to 1/8 t in the sponge.  Then I added about 1 t the next day with the butter, powdered milk etc.  It worked really well.  I make a multigrain bread all the time.  The recipe is from Hamelmen's Bread.  He says to preferment the white flour.  But Reinhart in Whole Grains recommends prefermenting the wheat for a variety of reasons.  So since I do not run a professional bakery, I make the preferment specific for a batch of bread not the bread from a standard pre ferment.  (I asked a question about this on here and this is what my conclusion was from all the comments.)  I would think a third of the flour as the preferment would be a good amount to start with.

Oh, and the Back Home Bakery guy really knows his stuff and has great tutorial videos.

KenK's picture
KenK

Well, they look nice enough. This is an amalgamation of a couple of KA recipes.

I made the preferment with 4 ounces KA white whole wheat, 4 ounces of water and a pinch of yeast.  Let stand at 70 degrees for eight hours.

For the final dough I added:

9 ounces KA all purpose flour

1/2 cup potato buds

1/4 cup baker's dry milk

1 T sugar

1 1/4 t salt

2 T melted butter

6 ounces warm water

2 t instant yeast

Divided into 8, 3 1/2 ounce pieces.