Is it important to knead biga/poolish?
I've never read a biga/poolish bread recipe that specifically mentions whether or not to knead the starter dough.
Is it helpful to knead it, or is it not worth doing?
Best Answer
Well, technically there is a minor difference between biga and poolish, but often the terms are used interchangeably.
Just for clarification:
- A poolish uses equal parts (by weight) of flour and water and very little yeast (sources vary between 0.1% to 1% fresh yeast / 0.03%1 to 0.33% dry yeast of flour weight). This leads to a poolish being rather liquid and easily mixable with a spoon.
- A biga has a lower water content, usually in the range of 40% to 60% of flour weight and a yeast content of 1% fresh / 0.33% dry. It will be quite firm in the beginning and may require some kneading to mix dry and wet ingredients properly.
But should you explicitly knead?
Actually, you don't need to. Both pre-ferments will rest for hours. During that time the gluten will both develop (-> see the principles of no-knead bread) and be diminished to some extent by the growing yeast. You don't want or need to mess with this process. Just mix flour, water and yeast until somewhat homogenous (no dry patches) and let both yeast and enzyme activity do their thing. You will observe that the "uneven" preferment will change texture over time, yeast starts to bubble and when it's ready to use, it will be nice and even.
1 Yes, that's a really, really tiny amount.
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Quick Answer about "Is it important to knead biga/poolish?"
To make a good Biga, you have to knead the ingredients for the time needed to get a rough dough. In case you over-knead the Biga, the dough will get warmer, and it will ferment much faster. In this case, the Biga won't develop the characteristic aromas.Why did my poolish not rise?
If it simply stopped rising at some point, the question of protein content in the flour may be useful to think about. If the flour doesn't have enough protein, it won't hold up a very high structure in a wet preferment.Which is better biga or poolish?
Generally speaking, a poolish is quicker and easier and it can be made with medium-strength flours. A biga takes longer because it needs a longer fermentation time and you have to be more careful controlling the temperature.Is poolish and biga the same thing?
Poolish has a loose consistency and is typically made with equal parts water and flour with a small percentage of commercial yeast. Biga, which is more like a dough than a batter, has a lower hydration than poolish and sponge, which is mostly used for enriched doughs, contains milk, eggs, butter, and/or sugar.How long does biga need to ferment?
Like poolish, biga usually ferments at room temperature, so it can't have too much added yeast. Ideal fermentation time for poolish is 15 to 18 hours. Biga will look very shaggy and not totally put-together when just mixed, but will loosen significantly after fermenation, looking more like a bread dough.Yeasted Preferments Explained | Poolish, Biga, Sponge, Pâte Fermentée
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Alexander Suhorucov, Alexander Suhorucov, Torsten Dettlaff, Anete Lusina