Part

Preferment

You might say: poolish, biga, sponge, starter dough

A portion of bread dough's flour, water and leavening made several hours or more before the final dough.

What it does

Slow fermentation adds acidity that strengthens gluten and contributes flavour, while reducing the bulk fermentation time after mixing.

Ask

Which type, at what hydration, and how much of the total flour is prefermented?

Typical

Made several hours or more ahead; it may be stiff, loose or a piece of mixed dough.

What to look for

1. A covered bowl holds a loose, stiff or dough-like pre-ferment
2. Bubbles and a fermented aroma show time has passed

Catalogue: Type

• Poolish: A liquid preferment made with equal weights of flour and water and a small amount of yeast.
• Biga: A stiff yeasted preferment.
• Pâte fermentée: A piece of finished, salted dough saved and added to the next batch. It counts by being complete dough with salt.
• Sponge: A liquid yeasted preferment.
• Levain build: A preferment made from flour, water and ripe sourdough starter.

Sources

1. Jeffrey Hamelman, Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, ch. 1, p. 17A pre-ferment is made by taking a portion of a bread dough’s overall ingredients, mixing them together, and allowing them to slowly ferment for several hours before mixing the final dough.
2. Jeffrey Hamelman, Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, ch. 1, p. 17The ripe pre-ferment immediately incorporates acidity and organic acids into the final dough, serving to reduce required bulk fermentation time after mixing.
3. Jeffrey Hamelman, Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, ch. 1, p. 17Breads made with pre-ferments tend to possess a subtle wheaty aroma (or a robust rye flavor, as the case may be), delicate flavor, a pleasing aromatic tang, and a long finish.
4. Martin Philip, Baking with preferments, Baking with prefermentsA "stiff" preferment has low moisture and the consistency of bread dough. … On the other end of the hydration spectrum, a "liquid" preferment has the consistency of pancake batter.
5. King Arthur Baking, Preferment, PrefermentBeing that pâte fermentée is a piece of mixed dough, we note that it therefore contains all the ingredients of finished dough, that is, flour, water, salt, and yeast.
6. King Arthur Baking, Preferment, PrefermentA characteristic of all preferments is the development of acidity as a result of fermentation activity, and this acidity has a strengthening effect on the gluten structure.

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