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Created November 29, 2018 14:55
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A Simple Poolish Recipe

Background

A poolish is a way of making tastier bread by emulating a quick sourdough starter via overnight fermentation. It's not a sourdough per se, but it's better than using only commercial yeast.

For my breads, I do not use any specialized bread flour–I use whole wheat, all-purpose, whole rye, spelt, oat, etc. I also typically make high-hydration doughs which make a spongier bread. But it's all about preference and experimentation.

Tools

  • Cast iron dutch oven(s)
  • 2 large containers for mixing
  • 2 bowls for resting and proofing shaped dough
  • a bunch of tea towels

Recipe

Poolish

  • 500g all purpose flour
  • 500g water at 80ºF
  • 0.4g instant dried yeast

Final Dough

  • 500g all purpose flour
  • 250g water at 105ºF
  • 21g fine sea salt
  • 3g instant dried yeast
  • Poolish

Steps

6pm, the night before

  • Mix all ingredients for the poolish into a big bowl or container or pot
  • Cover with a tea towel in a non-drafty area

8am (12-14 hrs later)

  • Mix the dry ingredients in a new bowl
  • Warm up the water and pour it into the poolish container
  • Empty the poolish container, water and all, into the dry ingredients, mixing until thoroughly incorporated

8am-10am

  • Within the next two hours, ensure that you have given the dough 4-5 large folds. Give a fold every 20-30 minutes. Be gentle, but try to stretch out the dough to help it develop gluten.
  • If you want to get weird and mix some things into the dough, now is the time–nuts, seeds, herbs, oils, citrus, fruits–whatever.

10:30-11am

  • When the dough is significantly larger, (2-3 hours after mixing), ease it out onto a floured surface
  • Be gentle so you don't de-gas the dough (this will affect rise and texture)
  • Cut the dough into two even pieces
  • Give the flattened, cut dough a light dusting of flour–also cover your hands in flour so the dough doesn't stick as much and is easier to work with
  • Treating the dough like a square, lightly stretch and fold in the four sides of the dough to form a ball of sorts
  • Flip the dough seam-side down and tighten the shape into a round ball–this is generally done by gently cupping the dough with both hands and dragging toward yourself with your pinkies rigidly held against the table. Every pull should tighten the surface of the dough. After a pull, turn the dough about 90º in one direction until it retains its shape somewhat.
  • Take shaped dough and place in bowl that has been lined with a heavily-floured tea towel. Cover and let rest 45min - 1hr.
  • Repeat for second half of dough

11am

  • About an hour before baking, preheat your oven to 475ºF
  • Preheat your cast iron dutch oven(s) as well

12:30-1pm

  • Do the "finger test" on the dough–poke it with a floured finger and see how springy it is. If it's springs back up, give it five more minutes and try again. If it springs back, but not all the way and slowly, it's probably ready.
  • When it's ready, take your dutch oven out of the oven
  • Remove the dough from the proofing bowl/basket and place into the hot dutch oven
  • Put the lid back on and bake for 30min
  • After the 30min of baking with the lid, bake for another 20-or-so min without the lid
  • When done baking, remove from dutch oven and cool on a raised rack for 1hr
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