Levain and Poolish

Making levains and poolishes are the first step to making a loaf of bread in Chad Robertson's tartine method.  Essentially, a levain is a large sourdough starter that is used before it becomes sour or pungent.  A poolish is an artifical yeast levain.  Half to a whole levain is required for all recipies. 

Instructions:

Ingredients:

For Levain:

• ~220 g flour
• ~250 g water
• ~25 g ripe starter

 For Poolish:

• ~200 g flour
• ~220 g water
• ~3 g dry yeast

Tools:

• Spoon for mixing
• Containers for levain and poolish
• Scale

1. Making a Levain

1. Add starter to container
2. Add water to container.  Mix very well.
3. Add flour to container.  Mix very well.
4. Wait 8-12 hours.  Levain is ready when a small spoonful floats in water (known as the float test)

2. Making a Poolish

1. Add yeast to container
2. Add water to container.  Mix very well.
3. Add flour to container.  Mix very well.
4. Wait 3-5 hours or until it passes the float test.
5. Or, wait 8-12 hours in the fridge.

Notes:

• I advise covering the levain and poolish with saran wrap and fastening it with a rubber band. If your container is too small or you added too much flour, the levain will overflow and create a large mess.
• Chad Robertson advises equal proportions flour to water.  I add more water to reduce the chance of the levain and poolish overflowing.  This is doubly so with the poolish.  They expand considerably (~100%)
• If you have a weak levain even after 12 hours, your starter is probably not strong enough.  Do not expect bread with an open crumb.
• Your bread will smell and taste like your levain.  If you let your levain sit for too long, it will become sour, bitter, and ascerbic.  Your bread will have those characteristics.  A sweet, milky levain is ideal, expecially for enriched breads (croissant, brioche).