Adapting a sourdough recipe to poolish (with new question 12/19)
I really want to make these cinnamon rolls but I have not yet managed a successful sourdough starter. I have been having good results using a 100% poolish and allowing it to ripen overnight; however, I still use a full dose of commercial yeast (minus the miniscule amount in the poolish) for the final dough. My first thought is to build the dough as described, substituting my ripe poolish for the sourdough in the levain and knocking the yeast down in the final dough to around 1%. Any advice?
EDIT 12/19:
So my adjustment to a poolish appears to have worked out (I won't know for certain until tomorrow morning but all looks and smells wonderful). But I ran into a problem with the "log" portion of the procedure; namely that nothing resembling a log was even remotely possible. The doung was far to slack and sticky to hold any sort of shape. I did get the rolls cut and panned but would love to hear others' experience and tips on handling the dough.
I prefer to use only enough yeast to do the job and avoid usuing more than necessary. I typically use about 1% yeast for my cinammon rolls. Works just fine.
bump for new question ;)
Without knowing the formula you used it's difficult to know exactly why your dough was not firmer, except that it's obviously a factor of hydration. If you didn't adjust your final dough for the 100% hydration in the poolish you would clearly have a very slack dough. My cinnamon rolls are typically 52 - 59% hydration, and if I use a poolish I have to factor it's level of hydration into the formula to avoid a slack dough.
The link to the recipe is in my original post.