Last night I was googling poolish bread because I was craving a proper, homemade bread. I stumbled upon Billy's site, halved the amount of ingredients, mixed poolish, and without any additional fuss (nor Dutch oven/cast iron utensils - I used heatproof glass bowl with a lid), I had an amazing bread today. Now I regret reducing the amount of ingredients haha. Brilliant explanation! This was my first time making it. And now I am wondering: can it really be better than this?!
Tried so many other RU-vid baker's recipes and they never came out right. Used your one 3 times now and perfect every time. I reduced the time of baking with the lid off to 8 minutes and the crust is great - soft but still has texture.
I finished this this recipe today. It turned out magnificently!! I noticed the video has different flour measurements than the printed recipe. I used the printed recipe, since most printed recipes have corrections from the video. I wasn’t able to use my clay baking cloche as I usually would since the loaf was much too large, so I used the pizza stone method described in the video and covered the loaf with my wok cover. It worked perfectly but did rise up a bit since it wasn’t quite wide enough as the dough expanded. All in all, I wouldn’t change one thing in this recipe. It was perfect and very tasty.
I like this video Billy. You are a good speaker. I will try this recipe. By the way, I use a Dutch oven on 450F with the lid on for 20 minutes and then taken it off, spray it with water and put it back in for 15 minutes. This is a different recipe of course. I think everyone should have a dutch oven. It's a must item!
I’m a home bread baker and have made straight dough yeast and sourdough breads. Yesterday I experimented with a poolish and made baguettes. I was very impressed. The final dough after mixed kept bubbling as I went to shape. Large holes and a crunchy crust.
Thank you so much! I've been making this bread every weekend and we don't need bread from the store anymore. Absolutely delicious and the whole family loves it. And love the mixing bowl over the bread trick because I don't have a dutch oven. Perfect!
I bake it today it came out really good. I use my big stainless steel pot instead of bowl. Crispy outside and nice texture inside.the result was wonderful. I will use this recipe forever. Thank you very much☺️
Yesterday I used my first ever poolish to make a bread using AP flour (instead of bread flour) and some whole wheat flour. For the first time ever I did not use any measures except a teaspoon of sea salt. I basically did the same process and times that you did in this video. After it’s final rise it had fantastic firmness to it that held the numerous slices I put in it. I used a 5 qt. Dutch oven and it was a beautiful, large, amazing loaf with a big ear on top. My best ever! The flavor was fantastic but still the crum was too small or tight. Looking for a more open crumb. Waiting for my mail order S.F. Sourdough to come to life so I can step up my skills. It’s kind of like carbohydrate porn for me though, as I live a low carb life, but my neighbors love that I make homemade bread.
I followed all the steps and I am so happy how this has worked out beautifully, thank you! I just wondered whether it won't succeed just as good when I use half of the amounts, because, ehrm... I live alone and this gigantic load is almost intimidating 🤪
may i offer a variation? cook it at maximum heat (260° C = 500 F or higher) under the lid for 20 minutes. then, without the lid, lower the temperature to 160° C and cook it for another 60-80 minutes. it creates a crust which grows deeper into the inside. greets from europe!
@@Thejzzman4 the crust is made in the first step, with a lot of humidity under the lid. if you want a hard crust, lower the heat in the second phase to 200° C. when the bread turns brown, you can lower the temperature further. my breads stay crusty for a week or so.
Looks amazing, and I will split the dough after folding into two loaves as I love all the crust! Question (for anyone): If I don't want a loaf with as much whole wheat, has anyone done it with more bread flour as a ratio? What is the difference in hydration?
Actually you can vary the % of flour type to suit. I normally use more bread flour when using whole grain flours. I was brought up on white Italian bread, so it’s what I like.
I’ve been using the No knead overnight fermentation direct dough method. I’ve tried a Poolish method a few times, especially for baguettes. My question is, what advantage is using a Poolish, then still have to mix and bulk the next day, as opposed to mixing direct dough, 1/4 tsp yeast, bulk overnight, and dough is ready next morning. I think the long fermentation is easier and all the dough ferments. Thanks, Rob
The recipe looks simple and do-able. The only issue I noticed is the crumb looked little closed (tight) when it was cut open in the end. Does it need deeper slitting prior to baking, since it didn't seem to get much oven spring?
Hi Billy. I am trying this recipe. One question: the quantity of bread flour indicated in step#2 does not match with video instructions. Steps #2 says 50grams of bread flour while video says 150grams. Besides the total quantity (550grams) was already used in step#1. Would you please help me indicating the quantity I should used in Step#2? I have already tried Homemade Artisan Bread and Homemade Brioche Bread Recipes. They were amazing! Thank You!
It seems like many people are having this same issue. The totals are not matching up on the website as well. The conversions of dry ingredients grams to wet ingredients ml doesn’t match up either. Please send help.
Made this recipe, turned out great, didn't use any special flour, too novice for all of that but I did throw in a bit of rosemary, and also used a cast iron to cook it, followed the same cooking instructions, covered 30 uncovered 20-25 min. Quick question if anyone can answer it: can I use this dough for baguettes? By that I mean instead of resting and proofing it in a round shape doing it in a baguette shape? (This recipe would likely easily yield close to 6 baguettes) I'm guessing the cook time would be different, probably 20-30 min, you'd have to put a dish with water on the bottom rack of the oven to humidify the oven and spray water on them periodically to create a nice crust. But curious if it would work well. I guess I'll just have to try if no one answers before the
I went by the written recipe and cut it in half. Wow this is the best bread I have ever made, the crust and the chew are amazing. I'm wondering how this would taste as an herb bread?
Hi Billy, loved the inspirational video. I made the polish yesterday evening but this morning it has barely risen, I wonder if overnight my house wasn’t warm enough and it’s stormy today :( can I add a little more yeast and warm water and try it in another couple of hours?
Well, I am one who has to experiment, and I have been playing with the poolish. After learning about the fruit yeast water for a yeast source I wondered if it could be done from Kombucha, which is a yeast based fermented liquid. If you use the sludge from the bottom of the bottle, it has more yeast in it than the liquid. I have never been able to get the poolish to double in size, seems to settle down at about a 50% increase. No idea why. So, I use that for my base and add a tiny bit of yeast, and then it will double. It has a really distinct sour flavor to it, and I prefer that to the flavor I can get from standard yeast. This pandemic has made me get back into baking....
@@sylviacarlson3561 I never really measured amounts. I keep 2 jars of poolish mix in the fridge. One that is Kombucha mix, and one standard mix. I will mix them for bread about a 1 part K to 3 parts regular. I do like the flavor it gives. There are videos of using Kombucha for sour dough. I guess beer mash works too.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve made this bread today and it’s come out amazing. I slightly changed the recipe by increasing the initial yeast amount to 4gr for the poolish, which was placed into the fridge overnight. My kitchen is around 15C so I wasn’t sure how the poolish would react if I keep it in the room temperature. Also, I have a pizza steel, my oven got really hot so much so that the crust was set with 15 minutes remaining to fully cook - uncovered. So I had to use foil to prevent it getting any darker. Again, thank you 🙏🏻
Thank you for your videos, easy to follow and very informative. Your studio is stunning. I read that your wife is an interior decorator, she did a fantastic job.
I like to control my temperature by placing it in the sink and filling it with warm water.. I use a thermometer to get the water to around 103deg and then each time i fold it reset the temp.
Dear Billy thank you so much for inspiring me 🙏 I learn every week and enjoy your content very much. I've found more pleasure and rewarding, creating 'things' in my kitchen, and especially when baking, than in my own career. Baking has kept me sane and motivated 😊 Thanks so much for this. Q: could you use this same dough for a Fougasse? 🙏😊
Looks great - I have my first poolish bubbling away since this afternoon. Money saving hint: those 6 quart plastic containers with lids in this and other bread videos are EXPENSIVE. However Home Depot sells food grade 2 and 3 gallon pails and lids to match (8 quart & 12 quart respectively) for about $5 plus another $3 for the lids. And yes, those new, clean, empty paint buckets are ‘food grade’ plastic: they’re made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). A web search will confirm what food grade really means. Update: the 3 gallon was a little too tall and awkward to work with, next time I’m at HD I’ll pick up a 2 gallon bucket
Food grade plastic is expensive...Make shure your 'bucket' is food grade, those industrial plastics release dangerous compound when in contact with food.
I know this is old but the directions imply that there is leftover bread flour (50 g) to be added to the wheat flour mixture but in the instructions for the poolish says to use all the 550 grams of bread flour. So in total its 600 grams of bread flour?
The total flour in the recipe shows 550 g for bread flour. I see the 550g is added at the beginning, but then another 50g is added after the 24 hour period. Is it correct to say the total amount would be 600g? Sorry if I'm missing something, just don't want to mess it up!
Yes I believe so, and when making the recipe there the additional 308g water added to the polish (warm water). And it looks like this is where we get the final percentage from 50% when we started the poolish to the final 62% "hydration" desired. That is my take on it at least ;)
@@ChefBillyParisi I assume the reason it works 12plus at room temperature becouse very low amount of yeast hence slower fermenting That makes sense thank you
Chef Billy Parisi I use Grease Proof Paper (also known as Baking Paper here in the UK) - never had a problem with Freezer Burn. Great series which I really enjoyed. Obviously with local flour as can’t get Bob’s Red Mill locally.
@@ChefBillyParisi It looked a tiny bit flat when you put it onto the pizza stone, but who is to say what the reason is? The oven spring seemed to work very well too, so maybe it's not that important. I am curious about the hot water was specifically called for in the recipe. Was that in the "Flour, water, salt, yeast" book? I'm sure the flavor of the poolish still comes through regardless, which is the important part. Cheers :)
France and Poland have long been allies with close cultural ties. "Poolish" is actually from Poland and when pronounced by the French, became "poolish". The Italian, slightly different version, is called a biga which is pronounced bee-gah - not big-ah.
@@rohinikumar5985 It's actually "polonais". I never claimed that "poolish" was the English word "Polish" pronounced with a French accent. That is an assumption on your part. The point remains - poolish is a French culinary term derived from a Polish baking practice adopted by the French.
@@ChefBillyParisi Of course! Hopefully I'll be able to find one of similar quality and thickness. All of the ones I've seen so far seem a bit of the thin side. Thanks!
The ingredient amounts do not match in the written description! The video says 550 flour for poolish, then the next day 550 wheat flour and 150 bread flour. In the written it’s not 150, it says 50…. Doesn’t add up in the measurements. Which is right?!
Step 1 says 550 g bread flour and step 2 says use remaining 50 grams of bread flour but up top it says 550 g bread flour. Should any bread flour be used in step 2?
@@ChefBillyParisi I don't understand. My question is based on the text instructions. Are you saying that this recipe uses a total of 600 g of bread flour, not 550?
It is also different on his website. Says total bread flour is 650g and whole wheat flour is 500g. He still starts with the 550g of bread flour and then adds 100g after the 24 hour rest. So I think the text is correct and not the video. I think as long as the total amount of flour is 1150g you should be good. At least that is what I am going to do right now :)
I’m sorry but what you do in the video, what you list for ingredients and “instructions” you wrote, do not add up correctly . I’m a bread maker so it wasn’t a problem for me but you might look at that? Thank you for the video and polish recipe!
Just for the record, sourdough starter is not what you used for this bread. I think your comments about benefits of sourdough bacteria in this recipe is misplaced and misleading.
