The Fresh Loaf

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Biga vs Poolish and Preferments and Soakers

Vtg79's picture
Vtg79

Biga vs Poolish and Preferments and Soakers

A question for the free spirit bakers who don't feel tied down to recipes...

What are you considering when you decide to (or not to) use one method (of preferment or soakers) over another?

 

Background:

I have come across some amazing explanations by Trevor J Wilson for how autolyse affects bread and what kind of breads demand it more (I use to only do it because I thought it helped with gluten and softened the bran in wwf) - Thanks Abe (Lechem) for that link.

Now I am reading about how different percentage of preferments and different soakers like Biga or Poolish would affect the dough / Bread. And why would I want to use them or just a Levain instead of a preferment in some recipes.

I'm certainly not looking for definitions (google generates enough to confuse any well balanced mind) but feel free to explain or provide links if you feel the need to define in order to support your preferences.

Thank you.