I'm making the whole wheat pan loaf formula from the Ciril Hitz Baking Artisan Bread book. It calls for an overnight white flour biga with only 100% whole wheat flour added to the biga on day 2.
Would I get a little more rise from the final loaf if I used KAB bread flour which has a 12.7 protein content vs. 11.7 for the all purpose? I also have KAB high gluten if more protein than the bread flour would be better. The high gluten is 14% protein.
I'm using Maine Grains Whole Wheat flour which has a 12% protein content.
Any insight would be appreciated!!
Hi Lmw4,
In general it's better to use a strong flour (12.5-14g protein) as the biga undergoes fermentation for quite some time. While gluten is not developed much when the biga is mixed, it will be developed during final dough mixing the next day and a high protein white would help to lift the whole wheat.
Please let us know your results!
-Lin
thanks so much for the input. I'll try the high gluten flour.
Sorry, for one other question, would adding a bit of diastatic malt help with the rise? There isn't any added to the whole wheat flour.
I think in general diastatic malt can help in obtaining a better crust and perhaps a better rise with the added sugars and enzymes, though adding too much can lead to a gummy crumb (perhaps start with a safe 0.3%?). It's not needed for whole wheat flour, I wouldn't think. Most beneficial for predominantly white doughs.
It's normal to add the malt to the main dough, not the biga. The malt helps with replacing the sugars depleted with the overnight prefermentation. Without the malt, biga loaves can suffer with pale crusts, at least in mainly white flour loaves.
I would try adding malt at 4-5g per kg flour.
Lance
Agree completely with Lance. The biga (regardless of the type used) seems to deplete the sugars in the fermentation, so I add 1g of diastatic malt powder in the bulk ferment for a 400g total loaf flour weight.
The answer depends, IMO, on what kind of biga one is using. In my experience, what I call a 'shaggy' biga (see my past posts on the topic), even if made with a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast, can produce excellent results with pretty challenging flours in terms of levels of gluten/protein (e.g. white spelt, AP flour, even cake flour). I would have no problems using that type of SD biga for 10% protein content flour, even if I was not very experienced in handling such flours.
The main issue for that approach and such flours is to be quite conservative with the overall hydration. I would stick to 60-65%, but the resulting loaves are in no way dry or with a tight crumb.
Thanks so much. I'm going to try just 1 gm of diastatic malt and see what happens!
Look forward to see/hear what the finished loaves are like.
It depends. If you use 10% biga in your final dough, then imo the amount of protein is not so important. Might make a difference, but will not make or break your final product. With a higher amount of biga, it might be more important for the end result.
Imo the 3 most important aspects of biga are low temperature (16º-18ºC), low hydration (40%-50%) and the small loose lumps (slows down the fermentation). Just add the water and the flour to a container with lid, close the lid and shake until everything is mixed.
Diastatic malt contains enzymes that convert complex carbohydrates in simple sugars. You need this only for 2 use cases: flour with low enzymatic activity (for example the typical panettone flour or other flours specially developed for very very long warm fermentation) - unlikely in your case, or for quick recipes with high amounts of leaven, when you want the final result in 1.5-2h after starting the mixing.