Poolish success BUT
For medical reasons my wife needs slow/long fermented bread. So after a fair number of years I put the old bread making utensils back into action. Now I had some success but could do with a few suggestions on how to improve what I have.
I went for poolish white loaves. 500grams each of water and strong flour, plus minimal yeast (a pinch). After 15 hours it filled my very large bowl with a bubbly explosive mixture.
Added another 500g of flour, salt, 250g water and three quarters of a teaspoon of yeast. After four times each 30 minutes I stretched and folded. It was certainly looking good. I then left it for 4 hours. It looked good but far to runny to shape. In the end I shovelled (literally) it into 3 bread tins. I gave it another hour and it rose again. Baked 240C for 10 to 15 mins, then 180C for 20 mins.
It had a great crunchy crust, a brilliant consistent crumb, and tasted great. Wife loved it as did I. What survived made great toast the next morning.
But I’d like to be able to shape it.
- Should I have left it longer at any stage?
- Should I reduce the stage 2 yeast?
- Should I add some rye flour at stage 2?
Any thought, before I go for random guesses, would be very welcome.