Long Bulk Fermentation vs Preferment | What is the Difference?

Long bulk proof (fermentation) vs using a preferment. This has been quite a common question under some of my ‘breads with preferment’ videos.
And it totally makes sense, as you would think - why put in the extra effort of fermenting a portion of the total flour separately and only then adding it into the final dough, mixing again and continuing fermentation? Why do this if you could simply reduce the amount of yeast in a straight-through bread dough and leave it to ferment for the same amount of time as you would the preferment?

Preferments are used to add more flavour to bread, to make the crust crispier, and the crumb more substantial. They also help with keeping quality as the slight acidity prevents the bread from going off too soon (not that it would last long before being eaten anyway).

Flour that is fermented for a longer time can also benefit our bellies as the bran and the gluten gets broken down more thus enabling our bodies to absorb them more easily and get more nutritional benefits. Call it pre-digestion. Saying that, when it comes to bread made with commercial yeast the main benefits are flavour and some of that gluten ‘relief’, let’s call it. Because a sourdough starter brings more of health benefits to our gut and helps with breaking down the flour and releasing all the goodies.

That is why naturally leavened bread is far heathier than bread made with commercial yeast. The whole dough is fermented for many hours allowing the wild yeast to break down the flour and all the enzymes to work their magic which I by no means fully understand. One thing I can say is that I am gluten intolerant and eating bread that is slowly fermented significantly reduces the effects of my intolerance. Especially if it is naturally leavened. But today we are not making naturally leavened bread.

So, back to the preferment vs bulk proof discussion.
Looking at what is mentioned above we may naturally think that a long bulk proof of the whole dough should be better in every way. It seems more convenient and because all the flour is fermented it should give us the greatest benefit in terms on the qualities described above.
But not so fast! There are a few points to consider when choosing which method is best for your bake.

📖 Read the article ➡️ https://www.chainbaker.com/preferment-vs-long-proof/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🥨 To learn more about bread making click here ⤵️
Principles of Baking http://bit.ly/principles-of-baking
The Steps of Baking http://bit.ly/steps-of-baking
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🔪 Find all the things I use here ⤵️
🇺🇸 https://www.amazon.com/shop/ChainBaker
🇬🇧 https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ChainBaker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:36 Example dough ingredients
1:16 Making the preferment
2:05 Mixing the dough
3:31 Fermentation, shaping, final proofing
7:25 Baking the straight loaf
8:24 Baking the preferment loaf
8:50 Side by side comparison
9:57 24 hour fermented dough example
11:43 24 hour fermented dough result
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🌾 If you would like to support my work click here ⤵️
https://www.ko-fi.com/chainbaker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#Bread #Baking #ChainBaker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure
I participate in the Amazon Influencer Program which will earn commissions from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Видео Long Bulk Fermentation vs Preferment | What is the Difference? канала ChainBaker