Making Bread Using a POOLISH

 My white bread loaf using a poolish. The rise was incredible! The taste even better!

I probably make a loaf of bread at least every other week (my recipe is here: Kitchen Bounty: Daily Bread use as a guide for how to shape bread before baking). Quick-rising yeast makes it quite easy. If I start in the a.m., it's done by noon. But one thing I don't like about quick-rise yeast is its insipid or "un-yeasty" taste. I want more. To make it stronger and more pronounced, I allow an extra rise of the dough before shaping it into a loaf.  This allows time for the yeast to do its thing.

I've considered sourdough recipes, but I really don't want to mess with starters--all that feeding, etc. I'm a procrastinator by nature. That's when I began to read about making a poolish (poo-leesh). It easily solved the taste problem I desired.

Simply put, a poolish is a combination of bread flour, water and yeast. It's mixed the night before and covered. In the morning, it's all bubbly and elastic.

From that, you form your bread dough. It has a great aroma with just a hint of sourness that is not overbearing.

Because I use my bread primarily for morning toast and sandwiches, I do not free-form my dough. I put it in a loaf pan. I have beautiful black metal pans just for bread, but I find myself using my glass Pyrex loaf pan more and more (try finding an older one, they are expensive!). It allows the sides to bake into a light golden color without being overly crisp. For the loaf pictured, I placed a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven, but it made the top too crisp for me.

Poolish

Prepare the night before: 

• 10 oz. water (about 1 cup, + 3 tablespoons)
• 10 oz. bread flour (2 cups)
• 1-2 tablespoons liquid fat (melted butter, shortening, lard; I used olive oil)
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar (I always use honey but you can use white or brown sugar)
• 1/4 teaspoon quick rise yeast from packet. Save the rest of the packet. 

Using a whisk, blend all ingredients in a heavy bowl until smooth. Cover firmly with cling film. Poke a hole in the center using your finger (so the yeast can breathe) and place in a warm area. I place on the top of my refrigerator. Notice that no salt is added. Salt and yeast do not get along at first. They need to be introduced gradually ... 

In the morning, you should have a wonderful bubbling mass. If you lower your ear to it, you will actually hear the fermentation. (If you have children about, ask them to listen. It's akin to listening to conch shells for the echo of the ocean.)

At this stage, some recipes call for adding more water, but that only gives you more "holes" in your bread. I'm not interested in bread that won't hold butter and jam, so I skip it.

• To the poolish, add one room-temperature, beaten egg yolk. This is entirely optional, but I have learned the yolk will give a more tender crumb. Do NOT add the entire egg since the white has an adverse effect on both the rise and texture of the bread! Sprinkle the rest of the packaged quick-rise yeast over it and gently stir.

• Remove the mass to a floured surface and begin kneading in 2 more cups of bread flour. Now that the yeast has been allowed to do its thing, introduce 1-2 teaspoons of salt until an elastic bread ball forms and no longer sticks to the surface. You have to decide on what kind of salt determined by the size of the  crystals. Ordinary table salt has smaller crystals, so use the lesser amount. Use that as your guide.

Place in a greased bowl (I use olive oil) and allow to double. It won't take long ... check after 30 minutes.

Gently deflate (some recipes call for "punching." Never "punch" anything!) and give a second rise which usually takes less time than the first ... so keep your eye on it.

Grease your bread pan. I prefer lard or tallow, even Crisco. Form into a loaf (see above for Daily Bread instructions).

Place into greased pan and allow to rise to the top. Slash down the center for a classic look with a razor blade or very sharp knife and bake in a 350 F oven for 30-40 minutes or until it registers 200F on a quick-read thermometer. 

One of my viewers sent me these beautiful photographs of her bread using this recipe and technique. She couldn't stop making loaves ... Thanks, Michelle! 

My favorite breakfast, especially with homemade jams.

Notes: olive oil will produce a softer dough than shortening.  Bread slices best the following day and allows thinner slices. Never cut bread just out of the oven. Allow it to cool or the steam will escape producing a dry texture. Also, never cut off both ends or "heels" even though people may beg for those cuts; it makes cutting the rest of the loaf difficult if not impossible.

A note on yeast: I use Fleishman's Quick Rise. In the North, yeast is always found in the refrigerated dairy section. Where I'm at in the South it is found in the baking section, so I always double-check the expiration date and I store unused yeast in the freezer. My favorite yeast is the old-fashioned "cake yeast." It gives the best flavor, but it is almost impossible to find. 

Here is 93-year-old Clara making bread as she remembers her mother did from the Great Depression. Fascinating technique.

Keep your stale bread. Until I saw this video, I always threw away stale bread. Not anymore. If you have children, sub the water for warm milk, and use a sprinkle of sugar instead of salt. A whiff of cinnamon is nice, too. 

Daily Bread

When sliced supermarket bread began to hit the three-dollar mark, I hauled out my old bread recipe and began making my own loaves. A bag of bread flour is only four bucks. If I make only two loaves a week, that's a considerable savings. Artisan breads are even more expensive!

Rapid-rise yeast makes an easy go of the whole process and if you've never attempted to make bread, it's really not at all complicated and a great weekend project. It's also a great excuse to use all those nice bowls you have tucked away in the cabinet---oh, you know what I mean! You will need one good heavy one to allow the bread to rise. Sorry, but I don't do bread machines.

I've made many, many bread recipes through the years, and this is the one I've settled on. It makes a nice loaf that slices thin, so it's great for sandwiches, and it's particularly great for toast. The egg yolk gives a nice "crumb" and texture to this loaf.

Everyday Bread

Makes one loaf*

• 1 pkg. rapid, quick-rise yeast combined with 1/4 cup warm water and a pinch or two of white sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-2 tablespoons honey (or brown sugar)
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour

(To make two loaves, increase yeast to 3 teaspoons with 1/2 cup warm water, increase water to 1.5 cups, double butter, and honey but be careful of the salt. Use about 7 cups of flour.)

Preheat oven to lowest temp. Turn off and keep door closed.

Measure out the flour in a separate bowl.

Combine the yeast mixture in a one-cup glass measuring cup. Stir to dissolve yeast and place in the warm oven. This is "proofing" the yeast. If it's "alive" it will begin to bubble and froth. When it reaches the one-cup mark, remove.

Meanwhile, microwave the one cup of water until hot. In a large bowl, add the butter, honey (or brown sugar) and salt. Pour in the hot water and stir until butter is melted. Set aside for it to cool a bit. You want a temperature of about 90 degrees. Taste. Saltiness should be in the foreground with a hint of honey in the background. When warm, whisk in the egg yolk. Now add the yeast mixture. Stir.

To the yeast mixture, whisk in about one to one-and-a-half cups of flour until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or towel and place in the warm oven until the mixture doubles in size and is bubbly. This is called making the "sponge." After about 30 minutes, it should look like this:

Now begin mixing in the rest of the flour one-half cup at a time and until the dough becomes difficult to mix in and flour begins to cling to the sides of the bowl. Scrape it out unto a floured surface and begin to knead. It will be sticky and you will have to flour it. The goal is to try and not to use any more of the 4.5 cups of flour that you originally measured in the bowl. 

Knead for a good 10-15 minutes. To knead dough: fold in half towards you and then knead/push with the bottom or heels of your hands. Give it a one-fourth turn, fold in half again towards you, and knead. Sprinkle with flour as needed and give another 1/4 turn. 

The dough will tell you when it no longer needs any flour because it will just begin to stop sticking and become elastic and firm and smooth. After about 10-15 minutes, it should look like this:

This is about two pounds and makes one loaf of bread.

Lightly grease a large, heavy bowl (I use olive oil). Place your dough ball in and then turn upside down so the greased side is now up. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap.

Place in the warm oven. If necessary, preheat the oven on warm while kneading the dough then turn off. Yeast needs a warm, not hot, environment to ferment. If too hot, the yeast will die.

After 30 minutes, the dough will have doubled. Gently, go around the bowl and fold the sides inward to deflate. If necessary, put a bit more oil on top. Cover and return to warm oven to double yet again. After 30 minutes is should be double and leave an indent when you fingers are pushed in it:

Meanwhile, grease your loaf pan. I used lard. It makes for the best crust:

I don't think anything should be "punched" and that includes dough. Many call for "punching" down the dough. Don't. You want those little air bubbles. Remove the dough to a floured surface. Gently begin forming into a rectangle, the width about as wide as the bottom of the pan you are using:

Fold one end to the center, and then the other:

Pinch the seams a bit and then begin to form into a roll by folding again and keeping to the size of the pan:

Pinch the side seams closed and place in your greased bread pan. Cover and place in warm oven until it doubles in size and is even with the top of your pan. Remove from oven and with a sharp knife or razor blade, make a 1/2 -inch slit down the center. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Place bread pan on center rack and bake for 30-35 minutes. The top will be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. If not sure, remove the bread from the oven and  gently tilt out the bread. Using an instant-read thermometer, insert in the bottom of the bread (you want to keep the steam in the bread--poking a hole in the top allows the steam to escape). You want a reading of 200-210. If not done, simply re-insert bread and bake more as needed. 

Your loaf should go from this:

to this:

The loaf will continue to rise once it bakes in the oven.

Remove the loaf and place on it's side across the pan to cool:

As tempting as it is, DO NOT cut and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. Cutting into a fresh loaf of hot bread allows the steam to escape and will create a dry texture. 

Once it has cooled, slice away and enjoy! When it is totally cooled, it will be easier to make thin slices.

Toasting enhances the yeast flavor. Here I've slathered it
with my homemade strawberry/kiwi/ginger jam.

For the time being, simply put the bread cut side down on a plate. Once it has completely cooled, store in plastic wrap. I just use an old plastic bread sleeve. 

When my grandmother retired, she took cooking lessons at this cooking school in downtown Chicago:

A few decades letter she gave the cookbook to me:

'To my Grandson Gary. From Grandma Dason
Love you & Love Your Bread.

It is from this cookbook that my mother makes a family tradition: "Oysters a la Rockefeller." But that's another recipe and another blog.

(c) Gary T. Czerwinski 2010

Click below to watch 93-year-old Clara make bread like they did from The Great Depression. It's an interesting recipe and technique:

YouTube - Great Depression Cooking - Fresh Bread (Peppers and Eggs part 2)