Today, a recipe for a leavened bread: semi-wholemeal bread with biga and yeast.
A crispy crust and lots of soft crumb make this bread one of the best I’ve ever tasted. I now prepare it several times a week, so I no longer buy it from the bakery or grocery store; everyone loves it. Soft, fragrant, and with a good crumb structure, it’s perfect for scooping up meatballs in sauce or enjoying with cold cuts, cheeses, and grilled vegetables.
The biga is a pre-ferment made by mixing water, flour, and yeast and letting it rise for 12 to 48 hours before combining it with the rest of the dough to achieve a well-risen and light bread. Today, however, we’ll use it to prepare the bread without adding more flour.
Making it is simple, and anyone can do it. The most important part is the folds that allow the gluten network to form, giving strength to our bread dough. Four sets of folds, each an hour apart, are sufficient for a good result.
Let’s see together, step by step, how to make this recipe.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 20 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 1 loaf about 1.8 lbs
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 118.02 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 21.56 (g) of which sugars 0.83 (g)
- Proteins 3.70 (g)
- Fat 2.25 (g) of which saturated 0.30 (g)of which unsaturated 1.76 (g)
- Fibers 1.27 (g)
- Sodium 243.90 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for a semi-wholemeal bread loaf of about 1.8 lbs
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (with W between 260 and 300)
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (multigrain)
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 3 1/3 tbsp water
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- as needed vegetable oil (for greasing hands)
Tools
- 1 Scale
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Bread lame
Let’s make homemade bread together
Put all the flour in a bowl, add the active dry yeast, and then pour in the 1 1/3 cups of water for the biga ingredients. Mix quickly with a wooden spoon or spatula without leaving any loose flour and without compacting too much; the result should be a loose mixture. Cover with plastic wrap (or a shower cap) and let it rise for a minimum of 12 hours to a maximum of 16 hours at room temperature.
Take your biga and pour it all into the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, add the honey, and start mixing. Let it knead for about five minutes at medium-low speed. My stand mixer has 6 speeds, and I use speed 2.
After five minutes, you’ll see the dough starting to form, now begin adding the remaining water (the 3 1/3 tbsp) a little at a time, adding more only when the previous amount is well absorbed. Continue until all the water is used.
Now, with the stand mixer still running, add the salt and then the olive oil, always a little at a time, and when the previous amount is absorbed. When all the oil is absorbed, turn off the mixer.
Grease a bowl with vegetable oil, grease your hands well too, and take the dough from the mixer bowl, place it in the bowl, and make the first folds simply by lifting the dough in the middle and letting the part hanging down go under the dough you’ve lifted, do it again this time picking up the dough from the other side.
Repeat the folding step four times, each spaced an hour apart, with the dough rising in the covered bowl in between. On the last folding step, take the dough in one hand and turn the bottom side up, sealing it well by squeezing it with your fingers. Take a bowl and line it with a cloth, sprinkle it with a little re-milled semolina flour, and place the loaf inside with the closure facing up. Dust with a bit more semolina and cover. You can also place it in a proofing basket.
Let it rise for another two hours, then flip it onto a baking sheet, make cuts on top, and bake in a preheated oven at a temperature of 428°F for 30 minutes, then cover with a sheet of aluminum foil and bake for another 15/20 minutes.
When the bread is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool on a rack before slicing, if you can resist! While you wait, take a photo of your semi-wholemeal bread with biga and yeast and post it on social media, tagging me (a curly-haired baker Instagram and Facebook) and let me know what you’ll eat it with.
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Before placing the semi-wholemeal bread with biga and yeast on the baking sheet, make sure the oven has reached the right temperature to prevent the dough from spreading too much while waiting. You can also use a baking stone instead of a baking sheet for an even crispier bottom.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What amount of dry sourdough starter can I use to replace active dry yeast?
The 3 grams of active dry yeast can be replaced with 15 grams of dry sourdough starter.
What kind of flour can I use for the bread dough?
The multigrain whole wheat flour portion can be replaced with the same amount of whole wheat flour, type 1 flour, or type 2 flour.
