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Anonymous on 14 Jul 2017 at 15:31

I'm following this recipe https://www.shipton-mill.com/baking/recipes/spelt-flour-bread-with-biga.htm and it's only been a few hours yet the biga has peaked (quadrupled) and begun to flatten out. Now this may be strange but I'm more familiar with sourdough nowadays. To me it seems a bit much to leave the biga at room temperature for 18-24 hours and it's peaked in just a few hours. Does this seem right? 

I'm going to bed soon and don't wish to leave it out should my suspicions be correct.

"You’ll know your biga is ripe and ready when the dough is domed and just beginning to recede in the center."

KAF's Professional Baker's Reference says "Once mixed, it is left to ripen for at least several hours, and for as much as 12 to 16 hours."  Not as helpful, since it doesn't talk about signs of ripening.

I think your's is ready now.  Refrigerate it and use tomorrow.

Paul

For the very quick reply. I had a sneaking suspicion it might be too long to leave it out and it looks like you've given me the answer in perfect time. 

I'm also thinking of a pinch more yeast in the final dough which is lacking in the recipe. If I was to bake with the biga right now I'd probably not need to add any extra yeast but leaving it for a lot longer in the fridge makes sense to add a little extra. 

It's been some time since I've used yeast and I'm quite excited to come back to it. 

Thank you again Paul. 

Gnite. 

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mwilson on 14 Jul 2017 at 16:23

Sounds like it's too warm... A Biga is always 1% fresh yeast with a temp in the range of 16-18C.

http://staffoflife.wordpress.com/biga/

I'm not sure it's ready yet.

A biga will rise up early and then hold its peak for many, many hours..

I think maybe you're misjudging this.

EDIT: PS. I've just looked up what a 1/4 tsp of dry equates to and it's too much!

The general rule,is that dry should be 1/3 of fresh yeast but recently having run out of fresh yeast I have noticed that 1/3 dry provides a lot more activity that triple the weight of fresh - and so I go with less than a third - 1/4 is a good call you could go even lower in fact the conversion I am using is more like a sixth ... Dunno why most resources site 1/3 ???

when very fresh is chalk-like to the touch and almost white/grey in colour.

As it ages its appearance will darken and it will become moister and more paste like. Consequently it will lose some of its potency and it may even make a slacker dough. I've seen how using fresh with even just a little age can be unfit to raise a decent loaf.

I think 1/3 is about right. I trust the SFBI.

http://www.sfbi.com/pdfs/NewsF03.pdf

 

According to The Artisan's webpage Direct and Indirect Methods of Bread Baking (information translated from Italian bakers)

A mature biga should have the following characteristics:

  • It should still be in an active swelling phase (convex surface)
  • It should have an acid-aromatic fragrance that is strong, but not exaggerated;
  • It should have a pH between 5.2  and 5.0.

A biga may also be allowed to develop for 18-24 hours, or 48 hours. If left to develop for 18-24 hours, the temperature of the dough should not exceed 64-68 F in winter, or 56-60 F in summer.

When I first knew about biga (as well as Italian bread) from The Artisan, I found their information is quite helpful.