Spelt poolish bread
Hello,
I have yet to try any higher-percentage whole grain breads with a poolish and no sourdough levain, so here was my first attempt. It is a 70% whole spelt flour milled at home (unsifted), the rest white bread flour. Overall dough hydration was 70%. All of the spelt was a poolish at 100% hydration, fermented until ripened (took appx 10 hours for me). I did a quick 1hr bulk-ferment because so much of it was already prefermented, and then a final ferment of appx 30 mins. The spelt dough relaxes very quickly. I was able to get a tight shaping with plenty of strength, but after 15 mins it is very relaxed again. I used a brotform for the final ferment, but it still lost it shape quickly when I emptied it onto the peel. I thought this was going to be a frisbee for sure. Turns out, it wasn't totally a frisbee, but not quite as tall as I'd like. I will try again, maybe use high-gluten white flour instead of bread flour for the white flour component, and/or maybe lower hydration a bit.
Pics:
Ripe spelt poolish, smelled great:
Oops. I cut it down the middle before taking the picture. :)
The taste is fantastic, and without any sour. Yum! Plus, you can make it in a day.
(edit: actually, after resting for a while, there is just a tiny little tinge of sour, but it is not totally unwelcome. :)).
Happy baking!