Biga...has anyone used this?

And how is it made?

And used?

I have an absolute passion for my local bakery's calabrese bread, but I'd really like to try to make some at home. The texture is the way I like bread to be.

I've done some searching, and found that I likely need biga....a pre-ferment.

Can anyone help?

ViolaB 

This is not for the particular bread you wanted, but at least it gives you an idea of how to make a biga, how long to let it set and then what you do with it.   This is from King Arthur Flour.

©2008 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 Thanks mojazz, so very much!

It's a start. I think I have a recipe somewhere for calabrese bread. I just didn't have the biga. That's perfect! Thanks again!

ViolaB 

Looks like I found out something new: Biga

and to think I have been doing this for 50 yrs and had no idea it was something considered rare. In Germany we call it a "Vorteig" (pre-dough), a spnge or "young" sourdough.

Sometimes I use the method, sometimes I don't but it sure saves on yeast. I don't even measure, just throw in some fresh ground whole hard white wheat flour, a a couple of hands full of rye flour (ground  a bit coarse like Graham flour) a litle of yeast and some lukewarm water.

In our bakery in Germany in the evening my father used about a cup of sourdough(instead of yeast)  to make the "Vorteig" for a batch of bread of about 30  loaves of 3.5 lbs ea. to be baked the next morning. He, one or two apprentices and a journeyman helper ach day he baked two such batches of medium dark bread, on ea following  day two batches of different bread plus white bread every other day (more for weekends) and once a week the real dark whole kernel rye called "Vollkornbrot"*** of course lots of hard rolls early in the morning, also Danish for afternoon coffee, some cakes, cookies, bars and special orders.

***Vollkornbrot was/is a very wet, sticky dough made of cracked rye, whole wheat kernels pre-soaked, then just enough flour added to hold it together and baked in thin cast iron, lidded pans at low temp for 2-1/2 to 3 hrs. Much like Pumpernickel, but not sweet and much coarser. I wish I could find a couple of pans like that to make some of it. You can find it in some big cities and of course in German or Scandinavian delis.

I am going to have to try this recipe, have some good Romano Peccarino I can grate. Thanks for posting the recipe.

A recipe I have is ....

Pane Francese 

Source: The Free Internet Bread Recipe Archive

This recipe is from The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz. It was originally developed for the food processor, but I made it in the bread machine. What a great recipe! The smell! The texture! It uses a lievito naturale, or yeasted biga sponge, for leavening power.

A lievito naturale is very soft and looks like a perfect swirl in a bowl of soft vanilla ice cream after mixing. Pane Francese means "French bread" in Italian, but it's actually a bit flatter, and is reminiscent of the earthy breads made by the early Roman bakers.

Pane Francese has a sturdy, crackly-crisp crust and moist interior filled with uneven holes that will make you feel like one of the most accomplished bakers in the world.

Makes one oblong loaf

Biga Sponge 
1-1/8 cups water 
1 teaspoon bread-machine yeast or SAF fast-acting yeast 
2 cups bread flour (organic, if possible) 

Thanks JoyceSt

gr_elo! I should pcik your brain about breads!

Ok, here's what I found...they're called pre-ferments. There are several kind, including sourdough, and biga.

Looking through a dozen or more recipes and methods, people seem to want to make it complicated.

gr_elo, your description of your  Vorteig is perfect. I'll try that one soon.

I used very little yeast for a decent sized loaf of bread....no more than a 1/2 teaspoon. I don't think I let it rise long enough as it's got a dense crumb. It's also a soft crumb, which is not what I'm aiming for, but I found the flavour aiming for what I want. I used a cup of semolina in place of a cup of the unbleached flour that I use. One recipe used almost all semolina and I thought that a little strange, but I bet that's what I need to do...reduce the amount of ap flour and use more semolina. I've never used it before.

What do you think?...should I keep making the bread this way, reducing the amount of flour and increasing the amount of semolina? (the cost of yeast is a little much...it makes buying bread *almost* logical) 

 (hmmm, gluten...there's a thought)

ViolaB  

Viola,

you will not find much inside of my head to pick around in.

Semolina is made from Durum wheat, Durum has the highest protein  ( gluten ) content of any flour and is mostly used just for pasta. If you make bread using only semolina you will get a very chewy inside, more like glue.

The only time I use it I may add a litle bit to pizza crust dough but mostly make noodles from it.

I bake white bread with all purpose flour but give white bread away since I seldom eat it even though mine is not as wet, soft and spongy as what you buy in a store. (That store stuff turns into a doughball in your mouth).

I like something with substance and heft. I don't use recipes. Sometimes I make bread only from fresh ground hard white wheat Sometimes i throw in some coarser ground rye and/or lightly pre-soaked cracked wheat in order to get a coarser texture. Sometimes i throw in some extra bran or a few hand fulls of finer chopped rolled oats. In other words, anything that gets in my way or whatever I think of at the moment. But for the most poart the main ingredient is the whole white hard wheat, from  50 to 100%.

In case you are wondering: no, I don't do it all by hand, I have a "Santos" kneading machine with a 11 qrt bowl (I bought it about 7  yrs ago when it was half price of what it is now). It does 60 to70% of the work of kneading.To the white bread I give away I sometimes add raisns, or chopped dates and/or toasted sunfloweer seeds.. For fat in it I use butter,but no milk and very little sugar (about 1/4 cup for 5 x-large loaves). I can't count the times I have been asked by oeople to sell them bread but i will not do it.. I would not only be baking wevery day but I also do not have a licensed kitchen (even though that does not matter around here). At my age I am not about to burden myself with that much work. I have been offered $5.00 p loaf 2-3 yrs ago. Even so, by the time you add up the ingredients, the gas for the oven and my hours of labor it would be a losing proposition. I enjoy baking bread and enjoy giving a loaf to people i like. They just take turns and my "customers" are happy if they get a loaf every 6 weeks or so. I always bake 5 to 7 loaves (depending on what kind) every two weeks, I keep one and give the others away. Only when there is a special occasion like a fund raiser bake sale at a friend's church or something of that sort, do I bake in between and also make a couple of cakes then.

 Anbd now I'll wonmder foff and see what other trouble i can get into.

Good night all.