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Questions tagged [biga]

Biga is a type of pre-fermentation originating in Italian baking tradition.

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What is the difference between a poolish and a biga?

Both poolish and biga are pre-ferments. Poolish is a French name, biga an Italian term. What other differences are there between the two? Just to give some direction: are there differences in making them? Can you both keep them as long? How does the…
Mien
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Can using a poolish or biga preferment help me make a less dense wholemeal bread?

I've taken up bread baking again recently, and I'm trying to improve my skills. One thing that still eludes me is how to get a less dense wholemeal loaf. I know that wholemeal breads are nearly always denser than white breads. A recipe I used…
Billy Kerr
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Is my biga supposed to be liquid?

I'm trying my hand at Ciabatta bread and have just made the biga in preparation for making the bread tomorrow. I followed this recipe, which calls for the following proportion of ingredients for the biga: 250g/9oz Italian type '00' bread…
user17950
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18 hours fermentation of Biga

I am following Tony Gemignani's recipe for Pizza dough. For making a dough with a starter, he suggests making a Biga (which he calls "Tiga", link follows). Once the mixture is ready, he asks to let it ferment at room temperature for 18 hours. A few…
talsegal
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Is it important to knead biga/poolish?

I've never read a biga/poolish bread recipe that specifically mentions whether or not to knead the starter dough. Is it helpful to knead it, or is it not worth doing?
aaaidan
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What size of jar, proportionally, should I keep my poolish in to prevent overflow?

This morning my ongoing poolish lived up to its troublemaking name. Over half of it (by weight) ran out over the counter overnight, through the screwed-down lid. This is after I saw it hitting the top last night and stirred it down before bed. In…
Gement
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Can I rescue a bread preferment with unmixed flour lumps?

I started a plain 65% flour+water+poolish, mixed it up and left it to sit for a few hours before kneading. When I came back, I discovered I hadn't stirred all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Stirring it in after the fact, I now have horrible…
Gement
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Can you warm biga in a microwave?

This might seem like barbaric question, but is it possible to bring refrigerated biga up to "frisky" temperature in a microwave, without damaging it? I'm too impatient to just let the warm room take care of it... Thoughts?
aaaidan
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Can I substitute a biga or poolish in recipes that call for a sourdough starter?

Can I substitute a biga or poolish in recipes that call for a sourdough starter? If so, what should I take into account? Will the resulting dough require a shorter leavening time? If not, why? I understand that substituting the sourdough starter…
mic.sca
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How to increase batch size of dough starter bread?

I've recently acquired a really cool bread book filled with recipes which follow this format Mix up some flour, yeast, honey, and milk into a very smooth dough. Cover this with more flour and yeast and set it aside to rise for several hours until…
sirdank
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My ciabatta dough hasn't risen after 2 hours!

I mixed my ciabatta dough 2 hours ago, and it's barely risen at all. I put it in a greased plastic container in the hot water cupboard, and marked the level to know when it "tripled in volume". The hot water cupboard isn't particularly warm, but…
aaaidan
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Does there exist a conversion between a sourdough and preferments recipes?

I tried asking a similar question: From regular fresh yeast to sourdough and didn't exactly get real answers, so here I am asking something easier. Is there a formula to convert a sourdough recipe to a preferment recipe using either biga or poolish…
Lolman
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Water on top of biga

I made some biga and used it once. There were some left overs, so I added more flour and a bit of water. There is now a layer of water on top of it, after I left it for a few days. How do I know if it is off? Update: I think I'm making alcohol. I…
TungstenX
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