Biga Loaf: From breakfast to lunch

"Biga is a starter made with a tiny bit of yeast, 

allowed to ferment overnight, and used the next day."

After thumbing through a bread book, I was reminded of a Biga starter. After sitting a full day, the mixture begins to ferment and gives the bread a heady scent and gentle flavor. It allows the bread to rise more and the crumb is lighter, less dense, and softer. Using my basic 3-2-1 recipe as a base, I created this bread after breakfast and had it with lunch. I modified the rise time, added extra salt, and a bit of sugar with simple kneading and three rise periods to allow maximum rise in a minimum amount of time.

This recipe begins by making the biga the day before, a 5 minute step.

On the second day:

From breakfast to lunch it took about 10-15 minutes to measure and prep the dough, including a simple knead time of 3 minutes just to stretch the dough a bit. 

An initial rise of an hour was followed by 5 minutes of deflating the dough, turning and folding 12 times, and shaping it. 

That was followed by a 30 minute rise with a quick three fold turn done thrice. At this point, the oven and Dutch oven began a preheat process while the dough rose another 30 minutes.

Baked 30 minutes at 450F in a covered Dutch oven followed by 10 minutes at 450F while uncovered.

All in, about 2 1/2 hours of prep and rise time with a 40 minute bake puts the effort at about 3 hours 20 minutes, less than 30 minutes of which is hands on.

Basic Biga Loaf

Basic Biga Loaf

24 Hours Earlier in a smallish glass jar (12 oz or larger)

Combine

3 TBSP of BREAD FLOUR

3 TBSP of WATER

and ¼ TSP Active Dry YEAST

Stir well and seal with a top

The next day

Pour the yeast flour concoction into a

glass measuring cup and

Add enough (hottest) tap water to measure 1 CUP total.

Pour ½ CUP (hottest) tap WATER into the glass jar the yeast flour mix was in.

Shake well then add this water to the other water.

Mix then place into a mixing bowl.

Add

1.5 TSP Salt

¼ TSP Sugar

2 TSP Active Dry Yeast

Mix well.

Add 3 CUPS Bread Flour.

Stir until incorporated using a large wooden fork.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead 3 minutes.

Place dough ball into bowl.

Seal with Saran wrap.

Cover with a dark cloth.

Place in a warm spot. Allow to rise 1 HOUR.

Deflate the dough.

Use the handle end of the large wood fork to puncture the dough,

then stir the dough around the bowl.

It will pull away from the sides and clump onto the handle.

Lift and place the dough ball onto a lightly floured surface, withdrawing the handle of the fork.

Knead with 12 large Folds. (Fold into half. Turn and repeat.)

Return the dough to the bowl. Cover with Saran Wrap and dark cloth in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Lift the dough ball out and place on a very lightly floured surface mixed with a TBSP of bran flakes (optional).

Fold 3 times using the three fold method.

3 fold method:

View the flour as a sheet of paper to fold into thirds to place in an envelope. No need to flatten into a rectangle. Just fold the dough ball into thirds. Turn the dough a quarter turn. Do this three times.

Gently shape into a ball. Roll in Bran flakes if you have them.

Place dough ball onto a large piece of parchment paper (which has a sprinkling of bran flakes on it- about a 6 inch circle of flakes at the center).

Return the paper and dough to the bowl. Sprinkle with bran flakes.

Let rise one hour.**At the 30 minute mark, put the dutch oven and lid on the center rack of the oven. Set temperature to 450F.

At the hour mark, lift the dough out using the parchment paper and place both paper and dough into the Dutch oven.

Cover and bake 30 minutes.

Remove the lid.

Bake an additional 10 minutes.