Old vs. New Starter & Food Flavor Enhancement
I've noticed that bread made using an "over developed" poolish does not rise as well as that made with "fresh" (which is to be expected). However, bread made from the "over developed" poolish seems to benefit the flavor of food used in combination with it.
As background the dough (low hydration - firm dough and starter) is retarded under refrigeration for approximately 12 hours before forming, proofing, slashing and baking. The only ingredients are water, poolish, organic flour and sea salt.
The yeast is certainly not as healthy as compared to the lactic acid bacteria as identified by a fairly "feisty" sour taste. I've also found that gluten development was lacking (higher alcohol content?). Increasing the kneading time to 14 minutes (KitchenAid Pro) seems to have solved this.
I've given this a lot of thought and haven't come to any firm conclusions as to what's behind it.
I'm left wondering if:
1.) Has anyone else noticed this?
2.) What's the theory behind the flavor enhancement?
3.) Any documentation?
+Wild-Yeast