Biga too dry
Hello,
apologies for introducing myself here instead of in the dedicated subsection.
I am new to bread making having initiated one month ago only. Italian currently in Hong Kong.
To add flavour to my bread making machine made bread, yesterday baked my loaf with a small biga of 50 grams only.
For the biga followed proportions defined by Piergiorgio Gorilli [1]. A Knight and Master baker of exceptional skills I have never heard of before approaching the subject. One never stops learning.
Have few doubts. I am about to share one here with the hope collective wisdom will help to speed up the learning process.
Covering the biga container is required to prevent excessive moisture evaporation. Cellophane film, cellophane with holes and a simple cloth were all mentioned by different sources. Plastic container with air tight plastic lid also. Cellophane with holes is what I employed for the first fermentation step in the fridge. “Long” biga process. At the end appeared darker and dryer than expected. For room temperature fermentation switched to cloth at first but soon replaced it with cellophane film without holes. Dryness was apparent already. So which lid is the right one for letting biga ferment properly?
Side note: some mentioned here freezing the biga for subsequent uses. It clearly kills all bacteria. Is not deleterious to flavour and in general the leavening process?
Thanks for sharing.
1. https://www.maestrodartemestiere.it/en/libro-d-oro/2022/piergiorgio-giorilli
This is an example of something for you to learn early in your bread-baking efforts. There is usually no single "right" answer. I use a plastic lid or a sheet of plastic wrap for covering bigas. For a starter, my volumes are smaller so a small lidded plastic container works well.
You will come across advice that has been handed down for years or even generations, yet is wrong or less effective. Don't worry, you can turn out a very good loaf of bread no matter if you have followed some recipe "exactly" or not.
TomP
Sounds encouraging. Thanks TomP.
To be honest quantities are the only mandates I honored of Gorilli’s recipe. Home baking is not as controlled as professional. Still I try to maximize my chances where I can.
Next time will double the biga and reduce the loaf mixture hydration. Hopefully will obtain more flavor and eliminate last minute adjustments. First attempt leavening was excellent though.
The best bet is the lid it comes with. If you don't have one (a fitting lid) get one.
Fermentation is more a matter of time - and temp. You'll get used to it eventually. Longer and hotter together means faster - vice versa for the other way
Freezing isn't recommended - at least not for a home baker. That's left for giveaways or long term storage (with some work). A counter top or fridge is all ya need.
Only thing i could add right now is beware the flour used. There is a difference - but not exactly what you'd expect. And as always Enjoy!
>Longer and hotter together means faster
I often wondered the function of it resting in the fridge. Some fermentation may be happening but very little. Promoting lactic fermentation?
>beware the flour used. There is a difference - but not exactly what you'd expect
I like the challenge of it. For now I tried with exactly the same flour I use for the loaf itself. Type “0” or “550” W230. Mostly because don’t want to buy a different bag of flour just for experimenting with biga. To consider all flour bags are kept in the fridge here.
Thanks for your comments.
Be careful with the flours. There is a difference in the quality of flours between places. Best bet is to try it - go from there. Enjoy!
Using Italian flour for now. I am simply not knowledgeable enough to judge quality so bought what made me comfortable with. Also classifications are all national: Italian “0” is German “550” and, I believe, US “General”. Original language of my recipes is German but no German flour available here. Again picked something I knew already.
There is a difference - beware. Careful with the timings and water. Enjoy!
Baking with 100 g biga right now. It smells very good and loaf hydration adjustment was the right choice. Nice ball formed, not too sticky, without needing any additional flour. Ready in a couple of hours.
Something I am not sure about is how biga should look like. I know hydration is at the minimum and stirring, instead of kneading, required. Fermentation, not gluten structure, is the objective. What emerges after one and a half days of process is soft and sticky, smell is appealing but not intense, texture is more flaky than puffy. It does promote loaf leavening and structure very well. But biga doesn’t look fundamentally different from the raw preparation I began with. A little darker in color, a little softer and with good smell. Is that enough?
Actually fermentation takes time - you can't change much. The smell will change a bit over time. A biga (or starter) will change until it's ready. Don't use too soon - you'll adjust for it and it will change. Wait a few weeks before using to be sure it is what it is. The smell is up to you. If it's been a few weeks (the hardest part) it should be ready. The color won't be that different than the original (if it changes let us know). The test is will it rise bread - it does pay to wait till ready. How often will you bake? There is a difference. Enjoy!
>Wait a few weeks
You are referring to pasta madre here. With biga I am expecting to have it ready within a day or two.
>The test is will it rise bread
All recipes I have seen call for yeast to be added together with biga to the final loaf mix. This is a bit surprising since expected biga to take over the leavening function. I begun reducing the amount of dry yeast though, now a little over 1%, and with biga leavening and stability has been great thus far. Yesterday’s loaf came out fluffy and delicious.
>How often will you bake?
Once or twice a week. Next time will increase biga to 150 g, half of my loaf.