Baking with Poolish

Name: Baking with Poolish
Ingredients: 150 gram Wheat flour (bread flour) (with 11.5% protein content.); 150 gram water; 1 gram fresh yeast (or 0.3 gram instant dry yeast, or 0.5 gram dry active yeast); 285 gram Wheat flour (bread flour) (with 11.5% protein content); 165 gram water; 9 gram salt

May 7, 2019 122 Comments

I’m a typical sourdough guy.
I use my sourdough starter for almost all the bread I bake. Sometimes I combine my sourdough starter and yeast, like my sandwich bread with cheese and sesame oil.
But apart from that, I haven’t baked with commercial yeast for years.
I think sourdough bread is superior it’s as simple as that.
But that is my personal opinion.

I was reminded of this the other day when I read about something completely different. It was an article about fresh or dried herbs for cooking. They interviewed someone who claimed that only fresh herbs were acceptable. Everything else tasted like hay.

What a food snob I said to myself.
Even if I grow my own herbs in the garden, I realize that not everybody has that opportunity. And buying fresh herbs every day can be quite costly.
Besides, I think that some herbs taste just great as dried.
So I dismissed it as food elitism.

But then it struck me that I actually make myself guilty of the same thing sometimes.
Remember what I wrote earlier about the superiority of sourdough bread?

There are a lot of people out there that don’t understand all this fuss about sourdough bread. Some doesn’t even like it.
Some like it a lot, but they have other priorities in life than caring for a sourdough starter.
But they still want to bake some delicious bread now and then.

Therefore, I have decided to publish my first bread recipe with commercial yeast only.
We’re going to bake with Poolish.

WHAT IS POOLISH?

Poolish is a preferment where you mix one part flour and one part water with a small amount of commercial yeast, resulting in a fairly wet sponge that is left to ferment for 6 to 16 hours. The fermentation time depends on how much yeast you are adding, and the ambient temperature.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS ABOUT BAKING WITH POOLISH?

Longer fermentation time adds more flavor and gives the bread a better texture. There is no other way. At least none that I know of.

But if you mix the Poolish in the evening before you go to bead, it can be ready to bake within the morning. Besides, mixing a Poolish is not more complicated than mixing pancake batter so I would say it’s a no-brainer.
A few minutes before you go to bead, and you will be rewarded with bread, full of flavor and a chewier crust.

ABOUT FLOUR AND YEAST IN THIS RECIPE

I have used wheat flour with a protein content of 11.5% in this recipe. You can, of course, change some of the flour against whole wheat or even rye if you want. Just remember to adjust the water amount, as whole wheat and rye flour absorb more water than wheat flour.

I have used fresh yeast in this recipe because I ‘m used to that. But you can use instant dry yeast or active dry yeast if you are more comfortable with that.
If you prefer dry instant yeast, the required amount is 1/3 of the fresh yeast, and for dry active yeast, it’s 1/2. That means about 0.3 gram instant dry yeast and 0.5-gram dry active yeast for one gram fresh yeast.

But how much is 0.3 gram of dry instant yeast? Most kitchen scales start measuring at 1 gram so it can be a challenge to find out.
One way is to measure up 1 gram, divide it into three equal parts, and then remove two of them. I admit that this method is a bit rough, but you will come pretty close to the target.

MIXING THE POOLISH

As mentioned before, mixing a poolish is not more complicated than mixing some pancake batter.
Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour, and mix into a homogenous batter. I use cold water as I have experienced that the Poolish sometimes reaches it’s peak too early otherwise. The temperature in my kitchen is about 71-73°F/22-23°C. But if you have a lower temperature in your kitchen then maybe you need to heat the water a few degrees.
Place the container with the Poolish covered in room temperature for about 8 hours.

MIXING THE DOUGH

After 8 hours you should have a bubbling preferment that has risen considerably.
Fermentation time depends on temperature, and now it’s OK to heat the water a bit more. Up to 86°F/30°C is safe. You can go higher than that, but be careful, so it doesn’t get too hot. The temperature of the dough should not exceed 86°F/30°C.
Mix the dough with your hands. You don’t have to knead it, just make sure that all flour is incorporated with the water. You can wet your hands, so the dough doesn’t stick to you.

BULK FERMENTATION

The dough needs three to four stretch and folds during bulk fermentation. This video shows how to do it.
The overall time for bulk fermentation should be 2 to3 hours, and the dough should expand twice its original volume. The time depends on the ambient temperature. The dough in the picture below fermented for 2,5 hours at a temperature of 73°F/23°C.

SHAPING

Shaping the dough is crucial for a good end result. I use to pre-shape the dough into a round and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Here is a great video showing one technique. The video shows the shaping for a boule, but I think it works for pre-shaping as well
After 15 minutes when the dough has relaxed, it’s time to shape it into a Batard.
Again, I choose to link to a video instead of trying to describe the process.
Shaping in two steps adds extra tension to the dough, which is very important for the final result. Your loaf will rise upwards instead of floating out to the sides.

FINAL RISE

Place the dough into a floured baking basket if you have one. You can also use a bowl lined with a kitchen towel. Or, you can just let the loaf proof on any lightly floured surface covered with a towel or wrapped in a plastic bag. Let it proof for about one hour.
If you want more control of the fermentation process, you can check the dough with a little test.
You make a little imprint on the top of the loaf by pressing your finger on it. If the imprint springs back and fills up quickly, the loaf is probably under-proofed.
If the imprint springs back partly, the loaf is ready to be baked. But If the imprint doesn’t recover at all, you probably have an over-proofed loaf.

BAKING

Make sure to pre-heat the oven in good time, at least half an hour, before it’s time to bake. Set the temperature to 480ºF / 250ºC.
Baking in a dutch oven or a clay cooker will give you a better result, but none of these items are necessary to make tasty bread. You can use a pizza stone or just a baking sheet as well. Place an extra baking sheet below the one you are using for the bread. You can pour water on this sheet to create steam. Never pour water directly on the bottom of the oven. The steam will improve the oven spring, and the bread will get a nice golden brown color. Just make sure to place them in the oven while it’s heating up.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until at least medium-dark brown.
If you use a dutch oven or a clay cooker, remove the lid after 30 minutes.
Let the bread cool on wire racks for an hour before slicing it.

CONCLUSION

This recipe makes versatile bread with a thin crispy crust, full of flavor. It can be used for sandwiches, toast, or dinner bread.
Thanks to the long fermentation time, this bread gets a more complex taste and better texture than if you had baked in the usual way specified in many recipes. And the only extra you need to do is to mix water, flour, and a little yeast before you go to bed.
As I said earlier. It really is a no brainer.