"Ed Bechtel" > wrote in message
...
> Janet,
snip
> 1. Appoximately what percentage is your preferment to the rest of the
dough
> make-up? Order of magnitude is good enough 20% or 50%.

For this particular recipe, it is 16 ounces firm preferment, 8 ounces
semolina flour, 8 ounces bread flour.

> 2. Then if I remember correctly you go through a single rise with your
made up
> dough, form the loaf(s) then retard overnight. Is that right?

correct.

> 3. Do you make your next preferment with the left over preferment or with
jar
> of Carls sitting in the back of frig?

I make an approximate 36 ounce firm preferment initially. Use 16 ounces
twice and use the leftover 4 ounces to start another 36 ounce preferment.
(squish the preferment in water, then add/knead in the flour to make more)

The interesting part about this method is that I can use this firm
preferment beyond the 3-day storage recommended for an active dry yeast pate
fermente or biga. The sourdough organisms continue to have rising power
much longer. Because of the holidays I made a double batch of firm
preferment last Sunday morning. The remainder continues to rise in the bowl
and even today it is pushing against the plastic wrap over the bowl. I
have never pushed it beyond this point, but I would think there is a danger
of impacting the gluten strength for overall loaf support. I do use a
fairly high protein flour (13.5%) and that probably has a lot to do with how
long the preferment is usable.

Janet