POOLISH FOR THE BREAD MACHINE

We begin this mini-guide dedicated to the poolish, with a brief introduction on the meaning of the term.

Poolish comes from Polish. Bakers of Poland used a particular method of indirect proving which provided for a specific ratio of 1:1 of flour and water. These bakers were aware that the poolish method allowed them to obtain a bread more leavened and much softer than usual.

Century after century, the poolish technique, came to us and we use it today in our home-made bread, even with the bread machine.

The poolish is very easy to do but you have to know some principles about the chemistry of flour, which, as explained in my guide on how to choose the flour on the strength and protein, they are not all the same. Obviously, if we want to play it safe, just follow the instructions of the experts and their doses.

What I can tell you is this: do not be afraid to experiment. In the end we know, for a certain amount of water, it takes the same total flour. Let us then try with the flours of our taste, also combining them between their work and leaving the poolish for the time necessary. 

How long maturation for the poolish?

The time is in relation to the type of flour. Most of these are strong and the longer it takes for you to create an internal structure, the gluten network, which will make our bread soft and well rised. You will find everything explained in the guide on flour.  

I let maturate my poolish for 12 hours using strong flour as the whole wheat, Manitoba or durum wheat semolina.  

How much yeast to use: 

Calculated half gram per 300 g of flour, for both the dry for fresh yeast.

Photos with dosages are best indicated here:

• Quantity of fresh yeast  
• Quantity of dry yeast 

DIRECTIONS FOR POOLISH 

- First, sift the flour you chose. 

- The brewer's yeast, which is fresh or dry, must be at room temperature, so don't forget to keep it out of the refrigerator for time.

- We heat the water until it is warm. Tap water would be fine. If you have hard water and lime I suggest you leave it to settle down for half an hour in a container before use. Just remember to put more water than necessary, so when using, there will be a fund with the part containing the mineral deposits and lime.
- Pour the warm water into the bread machine basket. 

- Add the all flour in one time. 

- You crumble the yeast over the flour or spreads the dry one with the teaspoon.
- Put the basket into machine, close the lid and switch on the mixture program for 3 minutes.
- Remove the flour from the corners with a silicone spatula while machine is still working.

12 hour mature poolish with whole wheal flour

12 hours mature poolish for the white French bread.

What happens after we make the poolish?

When the poolish is matured we have to add more flour in a ratio of 3:1.

We calculate one third of the weight of the poolish and obtain the amount of flour to add. 

For our poolish of 600 g we should add 200 g flour.

This will give us a bread made ​​with 500 g of flour and 300 g of water. The final result will be a loaf 750 g approx. In the various recipes you will find other ingredients but salt, sugar and olive oil are the basic addictions. Of course, you can experiment with other ingredients according to personal taste. There is an incredible number of possibilities with our bread machine. 

Just try and discover.