Biga Italian Bread Starter Recipes

BIGA

Steps:

• Place the warm water in a small bowl, and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let stand until yeast has dissolved and is foamy, about 15 minutes.
• Measure flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and pour in the yeast mixture and cold water. Use a sturdy spoon to mix it together until sticky and difficult to stir, but nevertheless thoroughly combined. Cover and allow to ferment for 24 hours in the refrigerator before using.
• Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To use, rinse a measuring cup in cool water, scoop out the amount of starter needed, and bring to room temperature.

SOURDOUGH BIGA FOR ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• In medium bowl pour starter and warm water, mix until smooth. Add flour and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes, it will be quite stiff.
• Oil a large, deep bowl, scrape biga into it, cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 12 - 18 hours, it will likely rise up and then fall back in on itself.
• Use as directed for the biga in your favorite Italian bread recipe or in the Chewy Italian Bread recipe #176167.

BREAD STARTED FROM A "BIGA"

Steps:

• 1. 10-12 hours before you intend to make the bread (longer if the room is cold), start the biga by stirring together the first four ingredients in a large bread bowl.
• 2. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the biga to sit at room temperature for 10-12 hours. It will double in size and be full of holes, looking similar to the raw side of a pancake ready to be flipped.
• 3. Stir 3 cups of flour and the second cup of water into the biga until a raggy mass develops. Flop this onto a well floured counter and knead (push and fold) about 100 strokes, add flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands and the counter. Try to add as little flour as possible. Too dry a dough results in heavy bread.
• 4. Form the dough into a ball. Put 1 tablespoon of oil into the bread bowl and roll the ball of dough in it to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and put someplace warm and still to rise. An oven with the light on is a good rising environment. Allow to rise about 2 hours until doubled in size.
• 5. Punch the dough down, knead briefly and form into one large loaf, two small loafs, or rolls. The pictured loaves were made in a French bread pan lined with parchment paper.
• 6. Allow the formed loaves to rise another hour or until doubled in size.
• 7. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the risen loaves with the other tablespoon of olive oil. Bake about one hour. Longer for a large load, less time for rolls. As ovens differ, you will want to check the bread for doneness by rapping it on the bottom with your knuckle. It should sound hollow. If it thuds, cook ten more minutes and check again.

PANE CASSERECCIO RECIPE - ITALIAN COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Create the biga preferment the day before. If using dried yeast follow the instructions below, otherwise, add the yeast to the water and whisk until it's dissolved. Add the biga flour and lightly mix with a dough scraper or your hands until it's incorporated which should take about 2 minutes. Cover, and leave at around 18-25C (64-77F) for 12-18 hours.
• The next day, weigh the ingredients. Add the biga to the water in a large mixing bowl. Now add all the ingredients, excluding the 2nd water and the olive oil, to the bowl or a dough mixer.
• Using a dough scraper (or your hand in a claw shape) in a circular motion, mix the dough to evenly distribute all the ingredients. After a minute or two, take the dough out of the bowl and stretch it slowly on a worktop. Continue this for 5 minutes. Return to the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a bag and place it in the fridge for 10 minutes Using a dough mixer: Mix for 6 minutes at a slow speed. The dough should feel soft and have visible long gluten but it wont be very strong.
• Take the dough back to the worktop and knead for 10 minutes. Start off slowly and gradually get more intense. the stretch, slap and fold technique shown in the video is preferred here. Cover again and place back in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the fridge and knead fast for 7 minutes on the table. Put the dough back in the bowl and add the second water. Keep folding the dough into the water, it may take a while but it will absorb!. After the water is incorporated, add the olive oil with the same method and knead a couple of minutes more on the table. The dough should look smooth, even and strong.
• Put the dough back in the bowl, cover and take a temperature reading. If it's above 26C (79F) and it's warmer than this in the room, put it in the fridge for 1 hour. If it's cooler than this, leave it on the worktop for the same amount of time.
• Complete a stretch and fold, or simply knock back the dough and return to the bowl.
• Take a temperature check, if above 28C (82F) put it in the fridge, if it's under, the kitchen table is fine. Leave to rest, covered for another hour.
• Complete another stretch and fold or knock back, but this time flour the worktop before hand and after the stretch and fold, let the dough rest in a square shape on the table.
• Left to rest for 20 minutes on the worktop.
• Divide into two equal weights of 650g. Try to keep the square shape, so there is no need to mould. Just divide and position them onto a lightly dusted board or peel.
• Leave them to proof for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. Preheat the oven with a baking stone and a lipped baking sheet below it to 250C (480F).
• Use the poke test to judge when they are ready to bake. When ready, transfer them onto a peel by sliding one underneath.
• Cut using a bakers lame with a square design, 2 inches away from the edge.
• Slide the loaves into the oven using the peel. Add a cup of hot water to the tray below to create steam (oven gloves should be worn to prevent burning yourself) and quickly shut the door. Turn down the temperature to 220C (430F) and bake for 35-40 minutes. Open the door after 20 minutes to release some of the steam.
• Once the bread has turned a nice light golden colour, use a peel to remove it and allow to cool. You can bake it for longer if you want deeper aromas.

RUSTIC BREAD RECIPE WITH BIGA :THE BEST HOMEMADE ARTISAN BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Into a bowl add in the water and 2 pinches of yeast.It is hard to weigh it and most easiest way of expressing this amount will be slightly less than 1/12 tspStir and dissolve it in water.Now add the flour and combine together to form a dough.Make sure there are no dry patches left behind.Cover the bowl with a cling film and let it sit and ferment overnight.We can use the biga or starter that's been fermented anywhere between 10-16 hours(for the best results)
• In a small bowl ,add the water ,yeast ,salt and flour.Mix and combine to form a shaggy mass of dough.Now incorporate this dough with the preferment.Make sure its combined well enough that there are no lumps left and it's a homogenous dough.If you want to use a stand mixer you can use it at this point, which will make the process much easier.Now cover the dough and let it sit and rise.
• During this Proofing time we need to strengthen the dough.For that we will do 1 round of "stretch and fold" in 45 minutes and then another "layering of dough sheet" in another 45 minutesAfter 45 minutes of proofing, let's do stretching and folding the dough to strengthen the gluten in the dough.Just pull and stretch the dough and then fold it onto itself.Repeat the same on all four sides.Leave it to rise for another 45 minutes.Then again flip the dough on to a wet surface and stretch the dough to form a rectangular sheet of dough.Fold the dough from bottom and top 1/3 rd and then again fold it as shown in video.By now our dough has got a good texture.Transfer this dough onto a well greased containerNow cover the dough and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
• Our bread dough has risen slightly and it is ready for shaping.Transfer the dough on to a well floured work surface and then shape it into a boule " (round )or batard" (oblong)Place the shaped dough on to a bannettone or onto a rectangular loaf pan or a round bowl, lined with a well dusted(best to use gluten free flour like rice flour so that it will not stick to the dough) kitchen towel.Let the shaped bread dough sit and rise for 50 minutes in a warm environment and 50-60 minutes in a cold environment.After the final proofing, flip the dough on to a parchment paper.Dust off any excess flour on top.Score the bread with a sharp knife or blade or with a lame.Place this into the preheated oven dish or dutch oven.(We can use any oven proof dish with a proper lid.)Close the oven dish with it's preheated lid.
• Baking temperature and durationTransfer the dough on to a well preheated dutch oven(250C)( I recommend an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is hot enough) and close the pot with an oven safe lid.We can use a Dutch oven which is best to use for making this type of artisan rustic breads.Take care not to burn yourself during this step as the dutch oven or oven dish is very hot.Bake the bread inside the hot dutch oven(480F or 250 C) for 18 minutes with the lid on.After 18 minutes of baking,remove the lid and Reduce the oven temperature to 230CF.And then bake for another 8-12 minutes without the lid (450 F or 230C) ,until the top of the bread is nice and deep golden brown.The more you bake at this point,the more crispy the crust become.This extra baking will give that outer crust of the bread to get a more crisp and caramelized golden brown color and a nutty flavor.
• The bread is best when eaten fresh,when they are cooled but still slightly warm.It is chewy,so flavorful and has the perfect airy, soft texture.Enjoy!