Biga for Neapolitan pizza: how it works, my protocol

What a biga is

A biga is a stiff preferment: flour, water and yeast mixed ahead of time at low hydration, between 45 and 55 % of its flour weight. It ferments for a long time and is then combined with the rest of the ingredients in the final mix, or refresh. Alongside poolish, it is one of the two preferments used for an indirect dough.

Its job comes down to one word: acidity. While it rests, the yeast ferments heavily and the pH drops. That acidity makes the final dough more elastic and stronger. Three choices encourage it: low hydration, a deliberately incomplete mix and a long fermentation.

A short, incomplete mix

Mixing a biga is unlike any other kneading. It takes 3 to 5 minutes, by hand or in a mixer on its lowest speed. The only goal is for all the flour to meet the water. You are definitely not looking for a gluten network. A good biga stays lumpy and uneven, nothing like a smooth dough.

The flour must be strong. The reference biga calls for flour above W 300; in my protocol I use W 300–330. That is the range kept for indirect doughs and long fermentations.

The final temperature: 25–26 °C

The temperature of the biga at the end of mixing determines how its fermentation starts. When the biga then goes into the fridge, I want it warmer than a normal dough: 25–26 °C (77–79 °F), so that fermentation gets properly under way before the cold slows it down.

Working out the water is simple. The mix is too short to warm the dough, and the flour is usually at room temperature. The formula becomes:

Water temperature = 50 − room temperature (in °C)

In a 22 °C (72 °F) room, the water should be at 28 °C (82 °F). The water temperature calculator handles this case.

What controls acidity

Not all bigas are equal: you choose the acidity to suit the pizza. Four parameters govern it.

The reference biga

The starting point for every biga is a precise formula: Tipo 00 or Tipo 0 flour above W 300, 45 % water, 1 % fresh yeast, then 18 hours at 18 °C (64 °F). It is a distinctly acidic biga that gives the dough a lot of strength.

The Neapolitan biga, less acidic

For a Neapolitan pizza, which has to open quickly and without resistance, that strength would be too much. So I work with a lower-acidity biga: far less yeast than the reference (0.4 % in my protocol) and a rest in the fridge rather than at 18 °C. The cold has another advantage: it makes the biga much easier to set up and manage day to day.

What a biga brings

• A more developed structure, with a more irregular crumb. Biga favours gas development, and so a more dramatic cornicione.
• A typical aromatic profile, from the organic acids produced during its fermentation.
• Better keeping quality, meaning greater resistance to bacteria and moulds.
• Faster dough balls: after balling they are ready within a few hours, and can be stretched straight from the fridge.

My 50 % biga protocol at a glance

Here is the outline of my contemporary Neapolitan protocol in which the biga makes up half of the total flour. All percentages are baker’s percentages, on flour weight.

From start to finish the protocol runs 28 to 48 hours. If the final proof is done entirely at room temperature, I move the dough balls into the fridge for the last two or three hours. The bake is a little longer than for a direct dough, because of the higher hydration.

For 1 kg of total flour, that means a biga of 500 g flour, 275 g water and 2 g yeast, then a final mix with 500 g flour, 475 g water, 25 g salt, 20 g malt and 1 g yeast. The biga calculator runs these numbers for any number of dough balls.

Getting the final mix right

The refresh is the equivalent of kneading a direct dough: the fermented biga meets the remaining flour, water, salt, malt and yeast. Two points deserve your attention.

Malt

The biga’s long fermentation uses up some of the sugars and lowers enzyme activity. So I add malt at the final mix: about 2 % as syrup or 1 % as powder. It brings back enzymes, which help fermentation, and sugars, which help colour in the oven. More on this in salt, water, malt and oil.

Biga temperature

The biga directly affects the dough’s temperature:

• a biga straight from the fridge helps keep the dough cool while kneading, which can be a problem if the room is already cold;
• a biga left at room temperature warms the dough from the very start of kneading. If the room is hot, I put it in the fridge for a few hours before the final mix.

Either way the target is the same: dough that comes out at 23–25 °C.