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? 🤔
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.
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 ...
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.
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! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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.)
Very interesting! Looking forward to trying it!
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? 🤔
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Very delicious!
I used rice flour for the banneton. No sticking :-)
Finally a bread recipe I think I can tackle without dying of impatience! Also what a lovely Otto-is he a spitz?
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.
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 ...
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.
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 ❤️
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! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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.