viince wrote:
Hmmm..given that the numbers above total 332, that would be a rather
small loaf. Considering that the Poilane miche is supposed to be two
kilograms, I'd have to guess the numbers would be bakers percentages.
It is also interesting that there is neither yeast nor water in the
final dough. Old dough is usually a yeasted process, and the yeast has
to come from somewhere!


Well the yeast comes from the old dough. and I'm talking sourdough
yeast. That's if you're making your "Poilane" loaf all the time. I was
describing how they make it in Poilane bakery. If you start it from
the begining you just use your starter instead of old dough to mix the
preferment. The point is that in Poilane they don't use a separate
starter, they use a piece of dough from the previous batch, meaning
there is salt on it.

Your instructions were not terribly well written. When I first read
them, I ignored them because I didn't think it was a sourdough recipe.
More on that in paragraph. The fact that there was only one response to
the formula kinda substantiates by belief.... especially since that
response was, "is this grams or bakers percentage?" No one seems to
have been inspired to try the formula, judging by the lack of "Thanks
for the great recipe" posts.


I have been a hobbyist baker for over 30 years, and a professional for
over 5. I've never seen the term "old dough" applied to sourdough. Old
dough has always been a yeasted process. And more yeast is added to the
final dough. Which is why I assumed the recipe wasn't sourdough and I
made the changes I did.

You're right, I didn't accommodate loss in baking, the loaf should have
been larger. Also, the batch of dough should have been even larger to
accommodate saving more dough for the next batch. My bad.

Most of the time when people in this newsgroup are making things too
hard for themselves, it is because they are trying to figure out hastily
written instructions.

I've been in a number of artisan bakeries, and have been trained by some
excellent bakers. In all cases I am familiar with, they weigh ALL
ingredients, liquid and solid. And then they adjust the dough as
needed. Most bakers I know prefer to adjust the water as that doesn't
change the rest of the bakers percentages.

In the end, there are a lot of ways to make good bread,
Mike