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Sourdough Biga

I added my sourdough seed starter to begin my biga. I made it this morning before 8am and put it in a 1 quart glass mason jar just below the 1/2 point. My wife called at 1 pm and said it has risen to the top of the jar is very bubbly so I advised her to put it in the refrigerator.
My question is I though the biga would be a liquidy, bubbling thick biga and not appear to look more like sticky dough. Is this to be expected on first 1/2 day?

thanks Paul

Tags: biga

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misysdsb
  • Reply by misysdsb on February 01, 2012 at 5:41 pm
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Good catch! I'm a big fan of making bread with a biga since it adds so much more flavor to the product. There is a version of biga called poolish which is essentially the same except more "liquidy." Either way, I think you're OK as long as you have learned what your dough should look like when it is ready to proof. The KAF classes talk a lot about knowing how to tell when your dough is ready to go. I have a nice BIG container in which to make my biga/poolish -- no worry about overflow!

Meritage lover

Thanks for your quick reponse. I think I am just worried after the timeline in developing a seed starter and then biga, I thought I did something wrong!

I guess I will continue this journey of learning breads!

paul

placebo
  • Reply by placebo on February 01, 2012 at 8:45 pm
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According to Peter Reinhart, a biga is a pre-ferment made with a little bit of regular yeast. It has a relatively low hydration, so it's firm, like dough. A poolish is a similar pre-ferment, also made with regular yeast but with a higher hydration. It tends to be liquidy.

I'm gathering what you did was mix up some flour, water, and starter. The consistency of this mixture will depend primarily on the ratio of flour to water. How much did you use of each?

I'm guessing you're going to discover it overflowed the mason jar. Usually, I find starter tends to expand to about 2.5 to 3 times its initial volume immediately after feeding.

Meritage lover

Placebo I got my terminology confused! I made a seed culture as described by PR and this morning I made the Barm. I was expecting more of a runnier bubbly goo, and I appear to have what looks like a sticky expanding dough. Do you think this will change states overnight?
BTW I used one cup of seed culture, 2 cups water and 3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour.

placebo
  • Reply by placebo on February 02, 2012 at 4:44 am
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I've noticed my starter seems to get looser with time after a feeding, so you may find the consistency of your mixture is slightly different in the morning.

Did you weigh your ingredients? If the consistency is off, it's probably because you used too much flour, which is easy to do if you measure by volume.

It could also be that what you have is fine, and it's just your expectations that are off. It's hard to know what's right the first time you try a recipe.

heeschen
  • Reply by heeschen on February 25, 2012 at 5:30 pm
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Can white sourdough starter be used with whole grain bread recipes called for starter?