I love a poolish! My household is small and we never ever consume enough bread or anything else to keep a sourdough starter alive without just tossing out the overage each time the starter is fed. Poolish was the way forward.
My dogs would like to inform Otto that if one has sufficiently attentive human staff, they will shovel you a path when the snow gets too deep.
Congratulations on the new place and your new kitchen, Wil. I’ve enjoyed making my little kitchen in Italy “mine” (an ongoing process) and I miss it when I’m in the U.S.
I believe the Italian equivalent of polish is biga. I used to make a wonderful loaf that called for it but it’s been years. I look forward to trying your recipe. I don’t mind an open crumb in bread as much as I mind it in panettone. All those money shots of people slicing open their lofty panettone and inside it’s all air! Where does the butter go? 🤔
Thanks, Domenica. And it's funny you mention panettone. I saw a picture on Instagram of just what you're describing just the other day. 50% air at least.
You're very welcome, Peter. And I'm so glad it worked well for you. Thanks for the message and for your support of my newsletter. It makes all the difference!
Ah, thanks Anna. Let me know how you get on with the recipe and technique. and yes, little Otto is a mittelspitz. A very small mittelspitz, almost a kleinspitz.
I love making a poolish- mainly because i usually decide I want to make bread far too late in the day so doing it this way actually makes me feel I have committed to it. Also like you said, the dough is easy to handle and not like some of those high hydration jobs that you have to scrape off your hands, the worktop, the cat, the kitchen door handle etc.
My sourdough starter is still sluggish after an extended holiday so I’m thinking this is the way to go while it recovers some oomph! And the water spray and cornflour tip I’m definitely going to try.
This gives me an idea. If you have a sluggish sourdough, but still want to make some great bread, perhaps a poolish "enriched" with a few tablespoons of sluggish sourdough discard...? Hope you like the method Julia!!
My first everyday bread technique was the Jim Lahey no-knead, which starts like this, with a poolish. It's such a great technique, though I moved away from no-knead to a sort of modified Tartine stretch-and-fold method ... and like you, I do not like big holes! I want BREAD to put my butter on! Thanks for this, need to start a new loaf today anyhow, so I'll take a gander at this recipe ...
Because my maths is a joke, an easy way I increase the hydration from 62% (as in the recipe) to around 70% is just to add 100g not 150g of flour to the poolish on day two. Makes a really nice bread. A little bit more open but not so much the butter goes missing.
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve given up on sourdough as I just don’t use it enough. I made the poolish yesterday and the bread this morning. The flavor was lovely. The cornstarch in the banetton was brilliant. Thanks for that. It’s going to be the perfect accompaniment to the soups I’ve been making lately.
Hey Kit, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And I'm with you on that cornstarch tip. It made everything so much easier from the first time I tried it as well.
I was just musing on the state of the holes in my fairly expensive sourdough loaf that I bought today. I thought maybe I might have cut down on my daily butter intaken this way, but I don't think it's worth it. Holes are for crumpets.
Thank you Wil. Can’t wait to try this. Q: I have only whole wheat flour (organic stone milled locally grown), AP and 00. Would that work with adjustments (as recommended by you)? Also now that I’ve actually been able to create a sd starter, would love a recipe using that (before I kill it!!). Snuggles to adorable Otto! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Really good question and well timed as I made a loaf today that used alternative ingredients. I picked up some whole wheat flour yesterday from a local organic mill and made the poolish from it and then added white flour as that second day 150g of flour. I also upped the water so it was about 70% hydration. It was probably one of the best loaves I've made. So my advice would be to try something similar, use 250g of your lovely whole flour for the poolish, then either the AP or 00 for that 150g the next day. As for a sourdough recipe, I will email you my go to sourdough recipe from Seb's book. Whenever I have a starter it's what I use and it's very special.
I love a poolish! My household is small and we never ever consume enough bread or anything else to keep a sourdough starter alive without just tossing out the overage each time the starter is fed. Poolish was the way forward.
My dogs would like to inform Otto that if one has sufficiently attentive human staff, they will shovel you a path when the snow gets too deep.
(Confession: I used to dig them a racetrack.)
I totally get this. I just don't bake enough random things to make use of the discard and I hate binning good flour.
And tell your dogs Otto says for all the shovelled paths that are made for him he likes going off piste occasionally too. 😉
Very interesting! Looking forward to trying it!
Thanks, Celia. Let me know how you get on!
Congratulations on the new place and your new kitchen, Wil. I’ve enjoyed making my little kitchen in Italy “mine” (an ongoing process) and I miss it when I’m in the U.S.
I believe the Italian equivalent of polish is biga. I used to make a wonderful loaf that called for it but it’s been years. I look forward to trying your recipe. I don’t mind an open crumb in bread as much as I mind it in panettone. All those money shots of people slicing open their lofty panettone and inside it’s all air! Where does the butter go? 🤔
Thanks, Domenica. And it's funny you mention panettone. I saw a picture on Instagram of just what you're describing just the other day. 50% air at least.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Very delicious!
I used rice flour for the banneton. No sticking :-)
You're very welcome, Peter. And I'm so glad it worked well for you. Thanks for the message and for your support of my newsletter. It makes all the difference!
Finally a bread recipe I think I can tackle without dying of impatience! Also what a lovely Otto-is he a spitz?
Ah, thanks Anna. Let me know how you get on with the recipe and technique. and yes, little Otto is a mittelspitz. A very small mittelspitz, almost a kleinspitz.
I love making a poolish- mainly because i usually decide I want to make bread far too late in the day so doing it this way actually makes me feel I have committed to it. Also like you said, the dough is easy to handle and not like some of those high hydration jobs that you have to scrape off your hands, the worktop, the cat, the kitchen door handle etc.
My sourdough starter is still sluggish after an extended holiday so I’m thinking this is the way to go while it recovers some oomph! And the water spray and cornflour tip I’m definitely going to try.
This gives me an idea. If you have a sluggish sourdough, but still want to make some great bread, perhaps a poolish "enriched" with a few tablespoons of sluggish sourdough discard...? Hope you like the method Julia!!
Brilliant idea Wil! I’ll give it a go.
My first everyday bread technique was the Jim Lahey no-knead, which starts like this, with a poolish. It's such a great technique, though I moved away from no-knead to a sort of modified Tartine stretch-and-fold method ... and like you, I do not like big holes! I want BREAD to put my butter on! Thanks for this, need to start a new loaf today anyhow, so I'll take a gander at this recipe ...
I hope the method helps. I'm a big fan, and if you're comfortable with stretch and fold you could definitely increase the hydration of this recipe.
Ooh. I'll play with that!
We finally have a bakery in town, but I'm not a fan of their everyday breads. So, I'm still making my own (they do a good baguette though!)
Because my maths is a joke, an easy way I increase the hydration from 62% (as in the recipe) to around 70% is just to add 100g not 150g of flour to the poolish on day two. Makes a really nice bread. A little bit more open but not so much the butter goes missing.
Laughing in my maths are a joke as well!
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve given up on sourdough as I just don’t use it enough. I made the poolish yesterday and the bread this morning. The flavor was lovely. The cornstarch in the banetton was brilliant. Thanks for that. It’s going to be the perfect accompaniment to the soups I’ve been making lately.
Hey Kit, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And I'm with you on that cornstarch tip. It made everything so much easier from the first time I tried it as well.
I was just musing on the state of the holes in my fairly expensive sourdough loaf that I bought today. I thought maybe I might have cut down on my daily butter intaken this way, but I don't think it's worth it. Holes are for crumpets.
Loving Otto ❤️
Haha. The latest trendy diet.
Thank you Wil. Can’t wait to try this. Q: I have only whole wheat flour (organic stone milled locally grown), AP and 00. Would that work with adjustments (as recommended by you)? Also now that I’ve actually been able to create a sd starter, would love a recipe using that (before I kill it!!). Snuggles to adorable Otto! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Really good question and well timed as I made a loaf today that used alternative ingredients. I picked up some whole wheat flour yesterday from a local organic mill and made the poolish from it and then added white flour as that second day 150g of flour. I also upped the water so it was about 70% hydration. It was probably one of the best loaves I've made. So my advice would be to try something similar, use 250g of your lovely whole flour for the poolish, then either the AP or 00 for that 150g the next day. As for a sourdough recipe, I will email you my go to sourdough recipe from Seb's book. Whenever I have a starter it's what I use and it's very special.
And Otto says hi.
Many thanks to you and Otto! Stay tuned...
I'm starting my poolish this evening - it's been far too long...
Excellent tip on spraying the banneton with water and coating it with starch - that's a new idea I shall embrace!
Yes, rice flour, ground finely, keeps the dough from sticking to the sides of the cast iron pot.