starter dough
For crumbly baked goods with a crisp crust a special starter dough is often used, known in Switzerland as pouliche. It is produced with plenty of yeast and water – about 4/5ths of the quantity of water used in the main dough – and a fermentation time of between 30 and 60 minutes at a temperature of 24°C to 27°C. For baked goods with a longer shelf life containing plenty of fat, egg, and sugar, such as Panettone, a multi-stage wheat starter dough is mainly used that is better known as madre. A basic mixture of water and flour is freshened up over a number of stages and is used in the starter dough as a substitute for the baking yeast.The production of wheat starter dough has never really established itself on account of a number of factors affecting the automated production of yeast-raised bakery goods. It is mainly due to the fact that the following conditions have to be met if starter dough is to be produced in the ideal quality: stable micro-flora from the pre-fermentation (this only applies to madre), constant raw material quality, particularly with regard to the enzymatic activity and ash content of the flour, close monitoring of the fermentation parameters such as temperature and time, stringent control of hygiene, constant analyses of pH, acidity, and aroma, highly trained personnel, extremely precise production planning (which rules out any flexibility) and heavy investment in the case of an industrial plant.
Uncontrolled fermentation leads to irregular bread quality, tainted flavour, low loaf volume, and even very excessive sourness in the bread. Importantly also, it has been established in practice that dough produced with traditional starter dough does not always show all the desired qualities of bread improver. If this is the case, the quantity of bread improver can only be reduced but cannot be eliminated.
