Poolish
| Ingredient | Quantity | |
|---|---|---|
| White bread flour | 250g | |
| Water | 250g | |
| Yeast | 1/16th of a teaspoon |
Final Dough
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| White bread flour | 150g |
| Water | 125g at 41°C |
| Salt | 10.5g |
| Yeast | 3/8 of a teaspoon |
I was very interested to try this method of poolish, which comes from the word Polish (as in the country) and was bastardised by the French.
To make the poolish, it was really easy. Just equal quantities of flour and water little bit of yeast. The yeast was mixed with the flour before adding the water. Once the water was mixed, which I did with my dough hook, I just left it till the next morning.
When I looked at the polish mixture, you could see the bubbles, and one would pop every now and then. You can see this in the first photo. It was a bit slower than he was saying, probably because the temperature is about 3 or 4°C (bloody freezing spring!) lower they would be in his house. I mixed up the remaining flour, and then heated the rest of the water to 41°C and poured it into the poolish around the edges. Then I added the mix of flour, yeast and salt, and this is probably the most disgusting messy mixing session I’ve ever had with bread, there must be easier ways to make a dough than this. Even keeping my hands really wet made a right mess. I’m making two loaves of bread this time, so there will be plenty. I got it into as good a condition as I could and I then left it for 15 minutes before I gave it fold. I gave it four folds in total, I photographed it regularly, so it was interesting thing to compare afterwards. This should build the structure better. I also stretched it before the final folding action to try to improve the structure.
I think I then forgot to make anymore notes or take the pictures. The bread was OK as far as I remember , but still a bit flat. Anyway – onto the next one. I probably wouldn’t make this one again.