Biga (bread baking)
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Biga is a type of pre-ferment used in Italian baking. Many popular Italian breads, including ciabatta, are made using a biga. Using a biga adds complexity to the bread's flavor and is often used in breads which need a light, open texture with holes. Apart from adding to flavor and texture, a biga also helps to preserve bread by making it less perishable. Biga techniques were developed after the advent of baker's yeast as bakers in Italy moved away from the use of sourdough and needed to recover some of the flavor which was given up in this move.
[edit] Composition and use
Bigas are usually dry and thick compared to the French Poolish or a sourdough starter. This thickness is believed to give a Biga its characteristic slightly nutty taste. Biga is usually made fresh every day, using a small amount of bakers yeast in a thick dough, which varies from 45 to 60% water or other liquid as a bakers percentage (i.e., approximately equal weights of flour and water), and is allowed to ferment from 12 to 16 hours to develop its flavor fully.
After fermenting overnight, biga is then added to the bread dough in place of, or in addition to, regular baker's yeast, depending on the recipe, and the bread dough is mixed, kneaded, raised, shaped, proofed, and baked like any other yeast dough.
There are a few bread books whose authors specify a much higher hydration to the biga. Franco Galli, in his "Il Fornaio Baking Book," specifies a biga that is about 100% hydration, which takes it into the level of a French poolish. In general, however, a biga is a preferment of around 60% and the poolish is a pre-ferment of around 100%.
[edit] External links
- The Artisan on indirect baking
- Recipe for and photos of making a biga
- Discussion of preferments in general
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