Here are three more bread starters explained by artisan baker George Eckrich:
Pate Fermente
Pate fermente is nothing other than a piece of dough which can be mixed separately or taken from a batch of dough during the day’s baking schedule. The pate fermente is fully fermented, and by using it as a preferment, the baker has found the reservoir of organic acids and flavors that have already been developed. In my professional baking days, I preferred pate fermente because it was much easier to handle than poolish when we needed to mix, ferment and portion 500 lbs of preferment. Nonetheless, I would not recommend it for home use, since it requires a ready supply of fully fermented dough.
Levain
Levain is used interchangeably with sourdough to describe a somewhat stiff mixture of flour and water that relies on naturally occurring wild yeast to leaven and to create the flavor profile. Levains can be as loose or as wet as a poolish, but these wet levains are used for very specialized applications.
Sourdough
Sourdough is the greatest American contribution to baking vocabulary. Everyone knows the stories of California’s gold miners carrying their sourdough starters bundled in their shirts or jackets to protect the starter from the cold. In the sourdough, the wild yeasts and acid producing bacteria live in a symbiotic relationship that has been the source of great American bread for 200 years. This mix of living, eating and reproducing bacteria requires care and feeding, which is difficult to maintain in a consistent fashion at home, except for the most dedicated home bakers. Depending on the desired flavor profile, a sourdough may undergo as many as 3 feedings every 24 hours. Check out: sourdoughhome.com for building and caring for your own starter.
For additional info on bread starters, see the previous post on biga, preferment, and poolish.
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