Preferment Basics
The basic preferment consisting of a piece of fermented dough saved from a previous batch.
What is Old Dough (pâte fermentée)?
The French term for a wet preferment made of equal parts flour and water by weight plus a small quantity of yeast.
What is a poolish?
The type of microorganisms captured along with wild yeasts when cultivating a natural starter.
What are (lactobacillus) bacteria?
The internal baking temperature range that signals a lean bread or prefermented loaf is fully baked.
What is 190°F to 210°F?
The traditional French wand-shaped bread made with flour, water, yeast, and salt.
What is a baguette?
The four primary types of preferments listed in Chapter 8 of On Baking.
What are old dough, sponge, poolish, and biga?
The Italian term for a firm, dry preferment made with 30–50% water by weight.
What is biga?
The French term for a natural yeast culture made from flour and water.
What is levain?
Injected into the deck oven during the first few minutes of baking to promote oven spring and develop a crisp crust.
What is steam?
The probable cause when a baked loaf has a pale crust.
What is overfermented dough or using too much preferment?
Unlike other preferments, this specific preferment contains salt because it comes from a completed batch.
What is old dough?
A thick batter made from yeast, liquid, and approximately half the flour, typically used in heavy or enriched doughs.
What is a sponge?
The simple water test used to check if an active starter is ready to leaven bread dough.
What is checking if a piece floats in room-temperature water?
A cloth surface used to support shaped, high-hydration artisan loaves during proofing.
What is a canvas couche?
The traditional liquid bath component (or its baking soda substitute) used to produce the glossy, dark crust of pretzels.
What is lye (sodium hydroxide)?
These two chemical acids developed during prefermentation help strengthen gluten proteins and extend the bread's shelf life.
What are lactic acid and acetic acid?
Italian for "slipper," this open-crumb bread relies heavily on poolish or biga for its chewy texture.
What is ciabatta?
The proper action to take if a starter develops a pink or yellow film.
What is discarding it completely?
Chilling dough to slow fermentation and make high-moisture artisan doughs easier to handle.
What is retarding?
The primary solution when a free-form loaf spreads out and flattens on the baking sheet.
What is improving rounding and shaping to build surface tension?
The main reason rye flour benefits from preferments, given that rye protein cannot form this essential baking structure.
What is gluten?
The stage in the mixing process when biga, poolish, and sponges are added to the final dough.
What is with the flour before kneading?
The four sequential stages involved in preparing a natural starter.
What are 1.Starting the culture, 2.Feeding, 3.Maintaining and 4.Fermenting the final dough?
Three defining characteristics of artisan bread listed in Chapter 8.
What are all-natural ingredients, slow fermentation, small batch sizes, hand shaping, or baking in deck/hearth ovens?
The flatbread of Indian origin in Chapter 8 that incorporates yogurt into its sponge-based dough.
What is Naan?