March 29, 2009 - 3:26pm
pain sur poolish (my daily bread) - re wetness of dough
hi i made pain sur poolish yesterday for the second time. i used the recipe posted by floyd on this site, adapted from village baker. this time i used the 10oz of water rather than the 12 but it was still really wet. it was delicious, heaps of holes, different sizes. but the dough was way too wet and soft.
i just wanted to know is this how its supposed to be? i thought it was supposed to be a normal loaf of bread (because of the name) it turned out flat like ciabatta. the taste is amazing, will definately make again, very addictive. appreciate any tips. does anyone have pics of this bread (dough, crumb etc)
also one last question, how long can poolish be kept at room temp.?
thanks heaps!
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If you seek the big, uneven holes, the dough should be pretty wet, wet enough that it is difficult to handle.
That said, folding helps develop the gluten in even the dampest of doughs.
thanks i did fold as the recipe said. i love this technique it really brings the dough together. what i want to know though is are the breads supposed to be flat or am i doing something wrong. maybe deflating when i score? am i supposed to get 'lift' with this dough or is it too wet? so are the holes normal for this bread?
thanks
It should hold its shape, for the most part. Um.... I'm trying to think... If you've let it rise too long it'll deflate a lot when scoring, but otherwise it should make up for what it loses when scoring when it springs in the oven. What else...
Are you getting surface tension when you shape it? It is a moderately slack dough, but you should be able to pull it into a pretty tight shape. If not, it might have a tendency to spread while rising.
i was really careful when i shaped, maybe i was too gentle? do you shape immediately after final fold or let it rest a bit? i rested. i think surface tension was fine. i shaped one half of the dough using method on marc sinclair video, the other i shaped into long baguette using letter fold technique but i shaped too long for my baking sheet so i curved it in half like 'u' shape but stuck together if that makes sense. is it my shaping? both loaves were long.
i made another poolish today. i want to make it again but maybe shape into smaller, fatter shapes. although i did do this with my first attempt and still got flat results.
thanks
Dear Rolls, I make this bread a lot and use multiples of the twelve oz measure for water. Floyd stated on his original thread that he turned this dough out on a "highly floured" board. That seemed to make the difference for me. The dough seemed to pick up just the right amount of flour and by the third fold it was very manageable, held the surface tension and shape. I baked this bread exclusively twenty plus loaves and as they always say practice makes perfect. I absolutely love the ease of this loaf. A bake stone, hot oven 550F and steam all helped achieve the desired result.
Keep on it
ccm
thanks so much. i don't have a baking stone do you think it makes much of a diff. i usually use a black baking sheet. i could improvise with a baking sheet instead of a stone i guess. so you always use the 12 oz of water i did that with my first attempt. sorry did you say you do 3 folds i only did two according to the recipe. any advice on scoring? i do love this recipe also and will keep practicing. thanks
one more question sorry i was just curious bout your mixing method? i autolyzed (everything though not just water & flour) then did a gentle mix for about 4 mins. and that was it followed by the two stretch and folds.
with shaping i did notice that the letter fold technique maintained more holes in the bread.
thanks
Dear rolls-- Yes, I think a baking stone makes a big difference. I bought a round one in a thrift store for $1.99 and a rectangular one at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20.00. I also have begun to throw water into the bottom of the oven about a cup for steam. Yes, I fold three times. Mix. wait 45 minutes, fold, wait 45 minutes, fold wait 35-45 minutes, fold and shape. I have adapted the recipe to a DVD on Artisan Bread produced by King Arthur Flour I received from a friend. I do not use a mixer but it is all hand done.
ccm