Hi Chuppy,

Pre-ferments serve a number of purposes - they increase the lifespan of a loaf by slowing staling, decrease production time somewhat, and most importantly, to my mind, add that nuttiness you spoke of.

That said, I'm not entirely clear on your goal.  Is it to reduce the overall fermentation time in the final dough, or are you looking for ways to actually decrease the time in producing the pre-ferment? If the latter, I'm not sure you have a lot of options other than increasing the ambiant room temperature where your pre-ferment is growing.

Typically, both biga (a fairly stiff pre-ferment) and poolish (a very liquid one) require somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 - 16 hrs. at room temperature (70°) before they are mature.  Pâte fermentée, which is really just a piece of old dough with salt in it, typically takes the same amount of time.  So an 8-hour old poolish isn't going to be nearly ripe enough to yield the nuttiness you're after - or to reduce the final fermentation time in your finished dough.

I'm not sure why you would be adding pâte fermentée to your poolish, unless I'm misunderstanding you.

Good luck-

Larry

Hi Chuppy,

Pre-ferments serve a number of purposes - they increase the lifespan of a loaf by slowing staling, decrease production time somewhat, and most importantly, to my mind, add that nuttiness you spoke of.

That said, I'm not entirely clear on your goal.  Is it to reduce the overall fermentation time in the final dough, or are you looking for ways to actually decrease the time in producing the pre-ferment? If the latter, I'm not sure you have a lot of options other than increasing the ambiant room temperature where your pre-ferment is growing.

Typically, both biga (a fairly stiff pre-ferment) and poolish (a very liquid one) require somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 - 16 hrs. at room temperature (70°) before they are mature.  Pâte fermentée, which is really just a piece of old dough with salt in it, typically takes the same amount of time.  So an 8-hour old poolish isn't going to be nearly ripe enough to yield the nuttiness you're after - or to reduce the final fermentation time in your finished dough.

I'm not sure why you would be adding pâte fermentée to your poolish, unless I'm misunderstanding you.

Good luck-

Larry

Larry,

What I am trying to accomplish is a nuttiness of flavor in a shorter amount of time. The point of artisan bread is to allow the ingredients to marry so that the final product is a flavorful one. The recipe I am using is from Bread alone and it calls for a 2-10 hour poolish. The bread is a basic country hearth, the second or third recipe that dan covers. I am using the old dough from yesterdays loaves and adding them to the kneading process. Not sure what the results will be, but hopefully a nuttier and bolder flavor every time.

Thanks for the information Larry.

Jeff