90% biga loaf, as I learned from italian maestro Ezio Marinato.
This means when you mix the dough, 90% of the flour is already prefermented. As a result we have a very digestive bread, also a lot of aroma and character.
Method:
Biga: 900 grams of bread flour + 405 ml water + 3 grams of instant yeast or 90 gr sourdough. Disolve the yeast in water. Add flour. Mix 1 minute at slow speed, just until you get wet flour threads. We don't want to develope gluten in this stage. Let the biga mature 14-16 hours at 14-16 degrees celsius inside the same mixer bowl, covered with kitchen rag.
Final dough: All the biga + 100 grams stoneground flour + 300 ml warm water + 20 gr salt.
Bulk fermentation: around 1 hour.
Divide and preshape. Let rest 30 minutes.
Shape. Final proof, 1 hour.
I am always three or four years behind where the bread world is at....
Can someone tell me, please, how this bread tastes and what the texture is like when made with instant yeast?? Maybe I missed it but I kind find such a comment. Would so appreciate that.
When ever I have made a bread with biga it is chewier and has a thicker crust that a comparable bread made with poolish or no preferment. The breads from Ken Forkish's book for example. However I have always fermented biga at room temperature or in the fridge. So is this a particularly chewy bread?
So excited to try this bread.
I have seen a picture of the biga just after its mixed but cannot find it anymore. It looks like shaggy shreds. I am a little apprehensive about mixing it because I think I will end up over mixing. I found this YT video which shows how to mix such a 45% hydration biga (from 30 secs): Interesting. They also have a different fermentation protocol. On the same channel they make the final dough in a mixer using a paddle attachment and adding the remaining water slowly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IzCbv97Tn8
Thanks so much!!
What makes Ken Forkish is not a biga, or it's not the real one. What makes Biga so interesting is the long maturation in a very dry ambient, the gluten is not developed yet, so developes a very special acidity.
I read this post a while ago and have dabbled with biga a few times. It is my favorite bread but not made often-too much happening in my life for the 2 day prep. Things are a little calmer now, but bread is made less often so I want to make the loaves I really enjoy.
I had 2 takeaways from the information on making a biga- 1. biga is relatively dry (40-48%) 2. ambient temp (60F) for 12 hrs or more is critical.
I will add a 3rd- stronger flour for a biga as the gluten strength degrades during the 14-16 hr rest.
And now for an intriguing 4th point: " the gluten is not developed yet, so developes a very special acidity" .
Can you expand on that statement?
Thank you,
Caroline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IzCbv97Tn8
posted by Ilya on the ciabatta Community Bake a short while ago. It is a very instructional method for creating the biga that Abel references.
Thank you Abel. Its stands to reason a 'dry' biga and long ambient temperature fermentation could produce a very unusual flavor. Unusual simply because I have not experienced it ever. People mix up water flour yeast in all kinds of proportions in the bread world and call it biga. And then they ferment the mix at all kinds of temperatures for all lengths of time. Nothing standardized about it. You can understand it can be be confusing for someone like me. (However I accept recipes that just work because I accept that there is a big element of art to cooking and baking. No arguments.)
Thank you very much for bringing this forward on this forum. I just cant wait to make this biga & bread!
Another question if I may:: As in your recipe, many other bloggers and vloggers make this biga and make bread that is 90-100% of it. Is there any reason why you cant decide to have bread made with say 20 -30% this biga?
Abel, the malt powder you add, is it diastatic malt? How important is that? Can I just use some sweetner in its place? if not I will get some. Thanks!
Abel lives in Mexico where the flours may not have barley malt added at the mill. If you look at the flour bag's label it should indicate whether malt powder was already added. If so, no need to add it. And if you do, be quite cautious, a very little may cause your crumb to be gummy.
Thank you!