FOOD NEWS
What Is A Preferment And How Can It Elevate Your Homemade Bread?
BY RYAN CASHMAN
If you’re hoping to improve your homemade bread without getting too technical, try establishing a preferment, also known as a levain, starter, sponge, or poolish.
Preferment is essentially a dough that is made well in advance of the main bread dough itself. It’s allowed to ferment for hours or even days before it’s added to the final dough.
The key to using preferment is to let it fully ripen, meaning there’s some forethought involved. It’s not ready to use until it’s full of bubbles and smells somewhat tangy.
Preferment encourages more fermentation in the main dough, creating more gluten formation, a better rise, and stronger structure for a truly fantastic texture in the final loaf.