BIGA

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast onto the 1/4 cup warm water and let stand approximately 10 minutes until creamy.
• Add rest of water, stir.
• Add flour, one cup at a time and stir.
• Mix with wooden spoon for approximately.
• 4 minutes.
• Oil a bowl three times as large as the mixture's volume and scrape dough into that bowl.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 8-24 hours in a cool room or until triple in volume.
• The longer it sits, the more character it develops.
• If you let it go too long, it will take on sour overtones similar to sourdough starter as a result of the acidic by-products of yeast metabolism.
• If the room is cool enough--60-65 deg.
• F, 24 hours will yield a nice, mellow-flavored biga.
• You only need your first biga to get started.
• Then it is simply a matter of making bread at least once a week or so if you have refrigeration to keep the biga alive.
• If you don't have refrigeration, you would want to make bread every day and save a portion of the new dough you make each day as a starter for tomorrow's bread.
• Just take that portion BEFORE you add salt to the new bread dough.
• In this case, you would keep tomorrow's starter at room temperature.
• Use as you would a sourdough starter.
• For a rough guide, use approximately one cup of biga for a bread recipe calling for 7-8 cups of flour.