Poolish and biga calculator
Make pizza dough with a poolish or a biga. You get the flour, water and yeast for the preferment the day before, and then for the final dough.
Of the whole dough, the poolish’s water included.
Share of the total flour. More preferment gives more flavor and a dough that stretches more easily.
Instant yeast, as a share of the poolish flour. 0.1% is ripe in about 12–16 hours at 68–72°F (20–22°C). See how much yeast for other timings.
Yeast in the final dough, oil and sugar
Optional, as a share of the total flour. A little extra speeds up the final rise.
Your dough
| Ingredient | 1. Poolish | 2. Final dough |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 179 g | 417 g |
| Water | 179 g | 209 g |
| Instant yeast | 0.18 g | – |
| Salt | – | 16.7 g |
| Poolish, all of it | – | 358 g |
Mix the poolish the day before, then the final dough when it’s ripe.
Total dough 1000 g for 4 balls of 250 g
Flour 596 g, water 387 g (65% hydration)
Poolish yeast: less than ⅛ tsp, a small pinch. Using active dry yeast? Take 1⅓ times as much; fresh yeast, 3 times.
How the numbers work
A preferment is part of the dough mixed ahead of time. The calculator works in baker’s percentages of the total flour, so the hydration and salt you pick are those of the finished dough, preferment included. Four 250 g pizzas at 65% hydration and 2.8% salt, with 30% of the flour in a poolish, need:
- Poolish: 179 g flour, 179 g water and a small pinch of yeast
- Final dough: all the poolish, 417 g flour, 209 g water and 16.7 g salt
Poolish vs biga
| Poolish | Biga | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Same weight as the flour (100%) | About half the flour (45–60%) |
| Texture | Loose, bubbly batter | Stiff, shaggy dough |
| Share of the flour | 20–50% | 30–100% |
| Ripe after | 12–16 hours at 68–72°F | 16–24 hours at 64–68°F |
| Result | Light, open crust that browns well; nutty, slightly tangy | Chewy, very airy crumb and a big rim; mild and sweet |
A 50% biga in 1 kg of flour is 500 g of flour, 250 g of water and 1.5 g of instant yeast. Some Neapolitan bakers put all the flour into the biga and add only water and salt the next day: set the share to 100%.
How much yeast
Instant yeast as a share of the preferment’s flour. Warmer rooms need less, cooler rooms more.
| Preferment and timing | Instant yeast |
|---|---|
| Poolish, 12–16 hours at 68–72°F (20–22°C) | 0.1–0.15% |
| Poolish, 6–8 hours at 68–72°F (20–22°C) | 0.3–0.4% |
| Biga, 16–24 hours at 64–68°F (18–20°C) | 0.2–0.4% |
With active dry yeast, use 1⅓ times as much; with fresh yeast, 3 times as much. The amounts are tiny, a small pinch for most home batches, so a 0.01 g scale helps.
When it’s ready
- Poolish is domed and covered in bubbles, and the middle is just starting to sink. It smells sweet and a little boozy.
- Biga has roughly doubled. Pulled apart, it’s airy and stringy inside and smells pleasantly of alcohol.
- If it has collapsed and smells sharp, it went too far. It still works, but the dough rises less and tastes more sour.
Mixing the final dough
- Put the preferment in the bowl with the final dough’s water and break it up.
- Add the flour, and the extra yeast if you use any. Mix until no dry flour is left, then rest for 20–30 minutes.
- Add the salt, and the oil if you use it, and knead until smooth.
- Let it rise for 1–2 hours, divide it into balls, and let the balls rise until puffy: 4–6 hours on the counter or overnight in the fridge.
To size the dough balls for a particular pizza, or make dough without a preferment, use the pizza dough calculator.
Tools for preferment pizza dough
Weighing in grams is what makes sourdough repeatable. Links go to Amazon search results, so you can pick any brand.
- Digital kitchen scale
Every number on this site is in grams. Any scale that reads to 1 g, holds at least 5 kg and has a tare button will do.
- 0.1 g pocket scale
Kitchen scales are often only accurate to about a gram, which is over 10% of 9 g of salt. A 0.1 g scale makes salt and small starter feeds exact.
- Dough proofing box
Keeps dough balls from drying out and sticking together while they rise, on the counter or in the fridge.
- Pizza steel
A quarter-inch steel holds more heat than a stone and browns the bottom of the crust in a home oven. Preheat it for 45–60 minutes at your oven’s hottest setting.
Questions bakers ask
What is the difference between poolish and biga?
Both are part of the dough's flour, water and a little yeast, mixed the day before. Poolish is equal weights of flour and water, a loose batter that gives a light crust with a nutty flavor. Biga is a stiff dough at about 50% water that ferments more slowly and gives a chewier, airier crumb with a milder taste.
How much poolish should I use for pizza dough?
Most recipes put 20–50% of the flour into the poolish, and 30% is a good start. For 500 g of flour, a 30% poolish is 150 g of flour and 150 g of water with a pinch of yeast. For 1 kg of flour, it's 300 g of each.
Can I keep poolish or biga in the fridge?
Yes. Once it's ripe, the fridge holds it for a day or two. You can also leave it on the counter for an hour or two after mixing and then let it ferment overnight in the fridge; it will need a little more yeast to ripen in the cold.
Do I need to add yeast to the final dough?
Usually not. A ripe poolish or biga carries enough yeast to raise the dough. A little extra, 0.05–0.1% of the total flour, shortens the final rise, which helps in a cool kitchen.
Can I use sourdough starter instead of poolish?
A sourdough starter is a preferment too, made with wild yeast and bacteria, so it gives a tangier dough. For sourdough pizza, use the pizza dough calculator on this site and choose Sourdough starter.
What flour should I use for a biga or poolish?
The same flour as the rest of the dough: Italian 00 flour for a pizza oven, bread flour for a home oven. A biga ferments for a long time, so it does best with a strong flour of around 12.5–14% protein.