📖 Read more in the link below the video ⤴ 🌾 If you would like to support my work click here ⤵ www.ko-fi.com/chainbaker 🔪 Find all the things I use here ⤵ 🇺🇸 www.amazon.com/shop/ChainBaker 🇬🇧 www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ChainBaker 🍞 Share your bread pictures here ⤵ www.flickr.com/groups/chainbaker/

My mother grew up around the mediterranean. She came from a large but very poor family. Once a fortnight my grandmother would make and bake all the bread needed for the next two weeks in their wood-fired oven. They couldn't afford to buy yeast, so each time my grandmother baked she would save a ball of the leavened dough and bury it in the sack of flour for the next round of bread making. They didn't have access to refrigeration - it just remained there at room temperature until needed. I'd always assumed that the purpose of preferments was just to keep sourdough cultures alive between bakes but I see there is more to it. Thanks for the informative video.

@alexandraprevezanou5448

11 ай бұрын

Exactly the same here in Greece! My grand mother and mother used to do like you described.

Love your channel. My 3 year old daughter and I love watching your videos and we try to bake some of the recipes even though she just likes the kneading. Thanks for being a part of one of my favorite memories -an American dad

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

That is so awesome! 😍 She'll be a little baker in not time :)

I realized that I made sponge for pizza in my entire life. I am currently improving my bread knowledge, and I am glad I find your channel!

Your principle breakdowns are the best!

Being one of the people who suggested this video, I'm delighted to see it happen! 🙂It's really admirable how much you interact with the comments, I hope it sends you to the top of KZread soon!

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I wish I could keep up with the suggestions. For every video I make there are dozens that get written down on a list for later 😅

@georgepagakis9854

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker You are the ChainBaker you can handle it!!! You are the best on KZread hands Down!!!

This is very informative. Only suggestion for videos like this would be to have a “control” bread with no preferment as a baseline.

I've definitely used the sponge more compared to other preferments. In fact, my first ever biga was only a few weeks ago. That being said, I haven't really actually explored the usage of the sponge that much. That said, I do agree one thing that was taguht to me. It's just something I agreed on with my baking instructor, rather than finding out for myself, but with how she explained it, it does make sense. The one time we actually did a sponge for my baking classes was when we were making brioche. She told us it's to help with the fermentation and gluten formation processes because the brioche is so rich with all its added ingredients: milk, butter, sugar, and eggs. All of those ingredients could hinder both processes quite a lot. At the same time, as you said earlier, the sponge produces a milder flavor, so it's perfect for enriched doughs where much of the flavor come from those ingredients.

Your channel deserves more subs, your an amazing source of info.

Great work. The structure of your videos keeps getting better. Really enjoyed this even if I don't think I'm ever gonna experiment with this kind of stuff! Was real fun to watch.

Excellent video as usual-I always enjoy when you do these videos Charlie. ☺️

New to baking bread and to your channel. This is very easy to follow and very informative!

Really thorough and engaging video. Thanks for passing on some knowledge.

Thank you so much for comparison. I personally tried every type of preferment, making bread the same day after 12 hours after 24 hours and after 48 hours to me personally there is no taste at all in the east-based breads the only difference I can taste and I cannot get enough of it it is bread made out of the good sourdough they can vary too. I had a few times sourdough died I had to create a new one and they do not smell taste and create the same bread too. within last two years I had different type of sourdough giving different results but still sourdough starter is giving 1000% better results than any yeast can give you.

Great job as usual, Chef! I've learned so much from you, and I bake bread nearly every weekend and am now passing the skill on to my grandchildren. I've tried biga, poolish and sponge preferments. My go-to right now is an enriched sponge white bread. It takes eight cups of flour total and I usually throw in a half-cup of whole wheat to replace one half cup of bread flour. Just a few days ago I started experimenting with vinegar in my recipes. It has totally transformed my bread recipes!! I took a real chance this weekend and added one tablespoon of vinegar per 2.5 cups of flour to my white bread recipe. It improved the taste of the bread significantly and made it softer and a little more moist than usual. Amazing what one little change or addition can do to a recipe. Thank you so much for inspiring me!

excellent teacher thank you!

Had a go at the poolish pre-ferment without extra yeast in a very cool house - o dear the loaf didn’t rise much but the flavour was fantastic. Will try again adding more yeast. Excellent channel, good information thanks.

Very helpful info. Thanks

Awesome vid; thanks from Canada~

Perfect topic!

Awesome Thank you

Super Benefit ! Thanks a lot.

Great video. I too found that Biga and Poolish have the same rise despite the claim that Biga has a higher rise in the pizza world. I also find that 20% preferment is the sweet spot because if you do anymore it will just over proof. I did try it once where I only did a preferment and then I mixed the dough without anymore yeast and when I let it rise after it came out of the fridge it took 24 hours, LOL So you really need the extra yeast! I have been making pizza with poolish for at least 2 years. This summer I went to the Biga preferment and found that the taste was better, now it could be my imagination so I am going to do the same test as you did and really compare. According to Science, Biga is suppose to be more acidic where poolish is more lactose, I do my Biga at 70% hydration instead of 55% so maybe that makes a difference. But regardless this video is really a great comparison because as we saw all the breads had a same rise and the cellular structure. I think at this point its all about hydration and the amount of time it goes in the fridge for longer fermentation that may play a bigger role with the taste. Your tests where preferment and then made the dough and a few hours later you baked it. Maybe try another video where you do an additional 36 hours in the fridge and then bake and taste. I am sure you will taste a difference and perhaps more mysterious things may be unveiled :) I wasn't surprised that all the breads had the same crispness, as they all did their job as intended.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Oh yes there are so many variables that can be changed. And the results would be vastly different if the doughs were fermented for longer. Side-by-side comparisons are best! Definitely give it a go and you might discover some shocking fact 😅

Excellent video

Now that it's gotten a bit colder, I've been making a poolish and a 2:1 tangzhong bread about once or twice a week. In the morning I make the poolish and tangzhong and let both of them rest for a few hours. Takes about 5 minutes total, and only uses less than a gram of yeast for the whole thing. Then in the evening I mix up the whole dough and pop it in the fridge overnight. Next morning I shape it and let its final proof go while the oven is heating up, and I finally bake it around 24 hours after starting. It works well with my schedule and the results have been much better than any other method I've tried yet. Extremely forgiving with the preparation, too, since I could put the dough in the fridge for up to a couple days at a time and still get excellent bread.

Hello, thank you for your work. I use the different pre-doughs, as you mention, just for taste. It hardly makes a difference in terms of starch. The maturing time in combination with the pre-dough is most important for the taste; assuming good flour. Depending on the bread, I add some yeast.

Love this one! I use poolish.....much easier (for me) to incorporate with my soaker and ww flour. Noticing the cooler weather and house temp.

Will there be a rising bread compilation this year?

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

You know it 😉

@hughaldous5195

Жыл бұрын

8 hour starter growth in one shot???

You cover good topics

Many years ago when I knew absolutely nothing about sourdough a friend gave me a "starter" that from the way it behaved - and particularly the way it died - I later came to believe was actually a pâte fermentée, or at the very least had started out as one. For more than three years I was baking a loaf every two or three days, keeping the 'starter' in the fridge, bringing it out and feeding it as required only an hour or two before use and continually gratified at how lively it was compared with other peoples' sourdough that need oh such a long time to do the business. It died when circumstances meant that I couldn't back for an extended period. Only later when I made my own sourdough starter and understood how differently is was behaving did I have suspicions about that first experience. But it's still fascinating that you can keep a bread-yeast based starter or pre-ferment going for a long time, perhaps indefinitely if you use it regularly and the flavour lift is quite discernible.

Actually made a white loaf with a biga today. Taking your suggestions of a hot pan to bake on, water misted on raw dough, and a hot skillet in the bottom with ice cubes made a great loaf. The biga took a lot longer to triple in size than I thought. Took nearly 16 hours, but I’m sure that’s because I forgot to hydrate the yeast before mixing it 😅. Maybe next time I’ll just use a poolish instead 😂. Will be interesting to see how long the loaf stays moist. I’ve been getting 2, maybe 3 days before you can tell it’s going/gone stale.

so informative

I love your experiments!! Could you please make a video when you use yudane, proofing, and mix both of them in one recipe? Just curious about the result

@ChainBaker

5 ай бұрын

I don't use pre-ferments anymore. Nowadays I cold ferment instead. Using yudane and cold fermenting kind of beats the purpose because the cold fermentation process makes the bread tougher. You can try and combine pre-ferment and yudane. It will work. Just keep in mind that you must allocate enough water for both mixes.

Would love a more detailed video on pate fermentée. Would like to know how you'd maintain the preferment over time and the different recipes you can use it for.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

There is more info here - kzread.info/dash/bejne/d6B-qNtxcabddaQ.html Just keep it in the fridge. It will be fine for a whole week in most cases.

Never heard of Pate Fermentee ... going to give it a try ... I always use a poolish. Recently, I have had some friends use it ... and OMG ... their breads are gorgeous ... I still get confused on things like ratio of flour to water ... but I just keep on trucking ... and my bread is awesome. Thanks for all you do and for sharing.

I like preferments in my bakes, no matter what i make, be it enriched sweet bakes or overnight cold ferments. I just use different preferments based on when i'll be baking. Bread without preferment is frankly quite boring. Sponge is a humble boy of preferments, but it's really good for "on day" bakes, when you need to bake something quick.

Hello! Thanks for this clear and complete explanation. I bought a steel and my loaves look great but are a little burned on their bottoms. I have a gas oven and always bake 20 minutes at 500f and another 20 at 450f. Should I shave time and temp?

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Bake at a lower temperature or cut down baking time. 500F is quite hot. My oven does not even go that high 😅

Cool video! I’ve always wondered how much of a difference the preferments make in the end product but lately I’ve been basing which I use on ambient temperature and my schedule. If it’s a warm day and I know I’ll be pretty busy, I’ll go biga; if it’s cooler and i have plenty of time, I might go poolish. Haven’t tried the other two but maybe I will at some point. Side note and somewhat on topic, I had a video idea/request: How to Save Your Bake For example, maybe you’re in a hurry and do your math in your head and forget to account for your preferment’s water. So your ~65% hydration turns into ~80+ and you didn’t plan for autolyse…I definitely just did that a week ago. I got a pretty good end result but I had to change my approach and I’m sure if I did the right things or not. That’s just one example, and I’m sure there are plenty of other “whoops” examples that you’ve encountered and found ways to save! Keep up the great work!

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I might try and make something like that in the future for sure 😁

Very nice video, and I'm loving the content on your channel, which has been helping me a lot, so thank you very much. Now, I can't stop wondering, maybe the doughs raised about the same time because pre ferment was added alongside ferment in yeast, but what if there was only pre ferment on the dough, how would it behave? Oh no, now I need to try it ='D

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

That is another experiment we need to try 😅

You taught me how to make a poolish and I've been making them several times a week since. Your video suggests that the poolish delivers the most "airy" texture and that's been my experience as well. You've also given me the confidence to "tweak" other bread and pizza recipes to incorporate a poolish. My question: In a dough that incorporates some percentage of whole wheat flour, is there a benefit to including the whole wheat flour in the poolish? My favorite rustic batard is about 15% whole wheat, but I don't usually include whole wheat flour in the poolish.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

That is a good question. I reckon that prefermenting the whole wheat flour will bring even more flavour to the final loaf. I guess there will be another comparison video in the near future 😅

Ar first thank you for your awesome content. I am really digging it. Can you also make a biga or poolish with some active/feed sourdough instead of the yeast? Looking forward to hear from you. Cheers from Germany

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Yes. All preferment types can be made with a starter. Here is a video about the preferments in detail - kzread.info/dash/bejne/d6B-qNtxcabddaQ.html Cheers! ✌

Hi, can you please post recipe for Vecrigas? Especially filling, can’t figure out how to do it with cottage cheese? Thanks. Btw, great channel! Really enjoyed your piradzini recipe do you know one with non yeast dough? Would love to try it as well.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I'll add them to my projects list. Can't say when I'll get to them though 😅 To be fair I've never tried or even heard of unleavened dough for piradzini. But I would imagine that rough puff pastry would work quite well in that case. Check this out and perhaps it will be the one - kzread.info/dash/bejne/gIqHp7RreKe2gsY.html

Is there a comparison between biga and 24h direct method? Best baking channel!

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/X5yXu5ixmdfbpbg.html

Hey, have been following the channel for a while, these comparison videos help me a lot to tune my recipes! Would be really cool if you could cover "Pão com Chouriço" in your channel - it's a very simple bread that you stuff full of chouriço (chorizo as it's most commonly known, very common in Portugal and Spain). My most famous recipe, I basically use a pizza dough and cook it at 250C with a pizza stone so it cooks the exterior and leaves the interior half cooked.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Sounds awesome! I'll add it to my future projects list 😎

Great comparison video, thanks! Nevertheless, I sometimes wonder whether your top heating element might slighty distort the final outcome in comparison to more tradtional ovens which probably most of us use.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I can't wait for the day that I will get rid of that piece of junk! 🤣

@prg.1751

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker I’m looking for the day when you announce: “Hey guys, forget about my 500+ videos. I have to adapt all my recipes”. ChainBaker 2.0 is born!😂

That's exactly the result I expected. I change what preferment I use based on the room temperature of my house, which changes with the seasons. I do bulk ferment my pizza dough though, I might be making it up but I swear the dough tastes stronger and is more chewy when I do that. As a side note, your oven cooks incredibly evenly, mind sharing the model? Its time for me to get a new one.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

It's some no name low quality oven. You really don't want one like mine. It does not even have two heating elements 😅

"how's it going my bakers"

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

😉

I’ve been using the No knead overnight fermentation direct dough method. I’ve tried a Poolish method a few times, especially for baguettes. My question is, what advantage is using a Poolish, then still have to mix and bulk the next day, as opposed to mixing direct dough, 1/4 tsp yeast, bulk overnight, and dough is ready next morning. I think the long fermentation is easier and all the dough ferments. Thanks, Rob

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I don't use pre-ferments any longer. Cold bulk fermentation is my preferred now. Here's a video about it kzread.info/dash/bejne/pYJ6tMune5Ddkps.html

Could you please tell me if I can use instant yeast to make the poolish ? I am a bit lost , it’s the first time I am trying preferments . Love your videos ,Thanks .

@ChainBaker

10 ай бұрын

Any yeast will do 👍

@marie-helenecauvin5378

10 ай бұрын

Thank you !

Hi brother, my kitchen air temperature is 31degree usually . kindly suggest burger bun hydration and method.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

You can find burger bun recipes in the Enriched Dough playlist. Videos about temperature control are in the Principles of Baking playlist ✌

Poolish all the way. Super easy to make the evening before. Takes 1/2 the water from the recipe with the equal amount of flour with a dash of yeast. Resulting in moist, longer lasting bread, from Baguettes, to Boules, to Petit Pains all the way to any kinds of loafs of bread. But I am biased, I am French.

Great stuff!!! I know this is a home bakers channel but could you please do a video on how to make commercial burger buns that are extremely soft and airy unlike homemade rustic bread. Thanks

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

They use machines and ingredients that home bakers don't have access to. Here is my softest burger bun - kzread.info/dash/bejne/fmqBx9uNptydd7Q.html

I threw out my sour dough starter yesterday. Making a preferment just feels so much less work.. Curious what the differences are here vs a starter....

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZX6cx5V7l6TAp84.html 😉

@joshc6699

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker I don't know how I missed this! Thank you!

I've tried looking for information but haven't had luck: How would the addition of an acid to a preferment (I'm thinking some apple cider or plain white distilled vinegar) result compared to a sourdough?

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I have not tried using vinegar in any breadmaking application yet, but I will explore it in the future. Sourdough certainly can not be replicated that way, but I guess some acidity can go towards that result.

I will choose biga over other coz its gave most airy bread which i like more.

Using poolish for pizza dough, could I put all my yeast in the poolish and none in the main dough mix? PizzApp asks for half in poolish and remainder in main dough mix. TIA

@ChainBaker

7 ай бұрын

Do it the way it suits you best ✌️

If making dough by hands using a preferment, besides poolish, would a sponge work good too when mixing to final dough ? I was using BIGA, but found the lumps are hard to remove and still made a great dough by hands.. Thanks...

@roccosdough

Жыл бұрын

I saw it again and answered my own question thanks !

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

😃

grande!

Since i make loaves with spelt and oats preferments break down the glutenstructure. So i generally prefer a flying sponge. If that makes sense ;-)

Hi Chainbaker! Can you put a Biga in the fridge after 24 hr room temperature fermentation. Such as, you don't have time to process the dough the next day. Will resting it in the fridge for another day, or less, ruin it?

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Certainly. You can leave it in the fridge for a whole week even. It will only taste better.

@natik2136

Жыл бұрын

​@@ChainBaker thanks that's good to know because I don't have time today either lol. Those ciabattas will get made tomorrow hopefully!

I've made pizza dough with poolish between yesterday and today. It'll be ready to bake in an hour or so, so I'd better go preheat the oven and perp the toppings. 🙂

@asterixky

Жыл бұрын

Better give us the result, or else :)

I bought brioche dough from Costco before and I just have to leave it to come to room temperature and then bake it. Can I freeze your brioche dough recipe before fermenting?

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Yes you can. Here is a video about it - kzread.info/dash/bejne/gKB916apgdCrhrg.html

That needed done. It seems the biggest factor is time and timing . Have you ever made a poolish ,that you didn’t get the time to use, and continue to feed it like a sourdough starter until it became one? I made a poolish in July, didn’t use it , fed it 1 to1 to 1 for the last three months and have been making sourdough with it ever since. I put the discard in a container and fed it too. I ended up with lots of it! When the container became so full as to not be able to hold another feeding ,when it was very active, I spread it on parchment paper, covered it with more paper and rolled it as thin as possible. It dried into a couple of pounds of dry starter. It takes 24 hours to activate. 50 grams of dry starter, 50 grams of whatever flour your using and 100 grams of water and your starter is back and active.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I have not tried something like that yet. It is most likely that after a while the starter became inhabited by wild yeast and it outcompeted the commercial yeast because the conditions of a sourdough starter with its acidity are not favourable by commercial yeast.

@chopsddy3

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker That’s my guess. I’ll have to make a flour and water only starter and compare. This started with 1/8 teaspoon of dry yeast(or less) a cup of water and a cup of flour. Pounds of rye whole wheat and bread flours have been used to feed it over the last three months. It’s definitely sour and making nice bread. Good enough to eat plain, but a little butter makes the magic. I’m surprised at how well the dried starter works. It only adds an extra 12 hours to the process and it retains a good bit of sourness. In a couple of feedings it’s back to full potential. Now, if I’m staring from a dehydrated starter, I make a little extra and dry it when very active on bake days. It’s very easy for those that want to bake sourdough bread, but don’t want (or have time for) an active jar of starter that needs the attention of a pet. If your lucky enough to take a three week trip, dry your starter. It will still be there when you return. Very handy stuff.

How to make the starter?

@ChainBaker

3 ай бұрын

Like this kzread.info/dash/bejne/o6CdsaOed6nRfMY.html

A sponge rarely contains all the yeast content. It's made from a maximum of 35% of the flour content and about 10% of the total yeast content. Generally 64% water content. This works for professional production requirement.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

That is not a sponge then. It's supposed to rise quickly. How can it if you use only 10% of the yeast?

@MrDCrosswell

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker No, it's a sponge. You use 10% of the yeast in the sponge. The rest goes into the main mix.

@MrDCrosswell

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker What you describe is more like what used to be called a `flying ferment'. It's ready to use quickly, yes, but there's little gain in it, as it requires time to develop flavours. A good sponge is matured overnight, and you have to gauge the time and temperature factors in order to do it efficiently.

@MrDCrosswell

Жыл бұрын

In controlling the time factor, yeast amount and water temperature come into play. For example: for a room/temperature cabinet range of 27-29C, a water temperature of 16C will work well over 12-15 hours.

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

@@MrDCrosswell 👍

Why do I get the feeling you and Spicy Moustache know each other? lol it's in the accent, y'all may come from the same region

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

I'm from Eastern Europe 😆

@acemanhomer1

Жыл бұрын

@@ChainBaker haha ahh ok, maybe that's where he's from, that's cool

Fantastic video with very interesting results. Thank you so much for sharing this. Hey - is that a Wheat Sheaf tattoo I see on your upper right arm? 😉 Very cool, indeed! ChainBaker fans! If you haven't already, please share your bakes with family and friends and post photos on your social media channels and of course, don't forget to mention ChainBaker's YT channel and ask them to subscribe - we are now at 117K subscribers and continue to grow each week!!!! 🤩🤩🤩 As mentioned in the video, don't forget to sign up for "Charlie's Baking Buddies" - a great community with other bakers - we share photos, comments, ideas and recipes (167 members strong, sharing photos of their beautiful home bakes - yay!!). You can find the link in the Description section (click "SHOW MORE"). Go "Team ChainBaker"!!! 📣📣📣

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

It is! My 100k subscriber commemoration which no one has really seen 😄 Thanks Lan you're awesome! 🥰

@ChainBaker

Жыл бұрын

Lan is one of my busiest baking buddies and she supports me all the way 😊 Oh yes the good old days when I could answer every single comment 😅

@Jeepy2-LoveToBake

Жыл бұрын

@@reddguy Hi, I'm just the "un-official (self-proclaimed)" ChainBaker cheerleader - I post photos of my bakes - sharing my experience with the recipe and the results (including bakes of ChainBaker recipes) on my social media pages - if just one post gets someone to subscribe this YT channel, then I'm happy, just trying to bump up his exposure. That is really all I do.

@Jeepy2-LoveToBake

Жыл бұрын

@@reddguy 😄

Biga. Why? Habit I guess.

👌🙏🙏🙏 🫶🫶🫶🙌 👏👏👏 🇺🇸

polish* the best, bescauuse it is from Poland :D

I'm watching your ChainBaker videos for a while and was using 20% part as poolish at first, found out bread had the same taste and texture as if I didn't add it and would go stale after 24h anyway... Below is my super lazy recipe for sandwich bread, based on what I learned and experimented watching your videos. I hope you try some (maybe better/fixed) variation of it as "no kneed" episode. ************************************************************** Method below requires (almost) no kneeding, 65% hydration - worked from 60% up to 78% hydration: Water 325gr Flour 500gr (I used cheapest white flour, which has only 10.8gr protein) Salt 10gr Yeast ~3-4gr (1-1.5 ts, affects raise speed mostly) Kitchen temp: 24C. 1. Dissolve: Into a bowl add Water, Salt, Yeast mix well. 2. Autolyse/Mix: add all Flour, mix with smooth spatula as much as possible, then kneed for just 1min with a bit of oil so it won't stick - the idea is to mix, not kneed. it may look like soggy mess, make sure it's a homogeneous mess... let it rest covered for 30min. 3. Strength: after rest, fold few times and let another 30min rest - it should look like proper dough at this point. 4. Bulk ferment: degass + do few folds and let it raise for 60min. 5. Final: Shape and let it raise for about 60min (or over night in the fridge). 6. Bake... (I usually bake 220-230c over 30-35min) Preparation: 30min + 30min + 1h + 1h = 3h then 30min~ baking, 1h rest. Cheers

I’m so intrigued! Now I have to watch the other videos and then try these out! I’ve made a lot of bread, but never with a preferment. Now I have to try it. Thank you so much for your inspiration!