Making a Biga

First off, I guess I should explain just what a Biga is. When making traditional Italian bread, the biga acts as a starter and is added to your regular dough recipe. It not only enhances the flavor, but it also affects the texture by giving the bread a lighter texture and giving it bigger holes (instead of the much smaller holes found in other breads). I need to note here that this is not a classic biga, which is taken from the unsalted dough of the bread you would have made previously and Thus can be a subject for another article.






There are a variety of different recipes for this and I have tried several of them, but I always seem to come back to this one. It is very simple to make and only takes a few minutes to put together and should be made the day before you make your bread. You should also note that this is a very sticky dough.



What you need

• Active dry yeast...¼ tsp.


• Warm water...1 ¼ Cup


• Bread Flour...2 Cups (if you don't have bread flour, you can substitute with all-purpose...I've made it with both)


• Wooden spoon


• Large bowl (this puppy is going to rise from twice to three times its original size, so keep this in mind when choosing)


• Plastic wrap


• Bowl scraper (used if you move biga to a new bowl)

Putting it together

• In your bowl, add the water and the yeast


• Let stand until foamy (Great technical term there), about 5 minutes


• Add the flour and stir with your spoon for about 2 minutes




• You will notice that this is a very sticky dough. You will know you have the right consistency when the dough is stringy when it comes away from the sides


• Place plastic tightly over the bowl




• Most recipes call for you to add your biga to another well-oiled bowl. I, however, do not have a lot of bowls lying around, so I just use the same bowl I make it in


• Let sit on the counter for about 3 hours


• Transfer to the refrigerator


• Remove and let it come to room temperature before using

The photo at the top is of my first-ever biga. If you look closely, you can see how close it came to the top of the bowl.