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Quick answer
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Live Ferment Timer
Dough temp — how warm your mixed dough feels (use a probe thermometer for accuracy). Inoculation — starter weight divided by flour weight × 100 (e.g. 100g starter in 500g flour = 20%). The timer updates as you type and shows a ±25% window because every kitchen is different. Open Start time, starter, cold retard to: set when you begin bulk fermentation and get a "ready at" clock; adjust for whether your starter is freshly fed, at peak, or hungry; or model a cold retard in the fridge. DoughRise Coach subscribers can record actual bulk times — after 3 bakes the predictions are calibrated to your kitchen, starter, and flour.
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Start time
Hours since fed
After (h)
Retard temp (°C)
Duration (h)
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The preferment calculator for
poolish, biga, and pâte fermentée
Quick answer
Preferment flour = total flour × your chosen percentage; preferment water = that flour weight × the style's hydration (100% for poolish, 55% for biga, 60% for pâte fermentée). Example: 500g total flour at 20% preferment, poolish style → 100g flour + 100g water.
The preferment calculator above takes your total flour weight and target preferment percentage, then calculates the exact flour, water, and yeast quantities for your chosen preferment type. It also adjusts the final dough ingredients so the overall formula stays balanced.
A preferment is a portion of your dough mixed ahead of time and left to ferment before being folded into the main mix. That extra fermentation time builds flavour compounds, organic acids, and enzymatic activity that you simply cannot replicate in a same-day dough. The result is a deeper, more complex flavour and a loaf that stays fresh noticeably longer.
Poolish gives you an open, blistered crust with mild acidity. Biga produces a slightly denser crumb with a sweeter, more complex character. Pâte fermentée is essentially a piece of yesterday's dough held back, adding body and mild tang with minimal extra work. Each suits different bread styles and baking schedules.
Warmer kitchens shorten these windows — the calculator adjusts for your own room temperature.
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Preferment types supported
20–40%
Typical preferment range
Full
Final dough adjustment included
How It Works
How the calculator works out your ratios
Every preferment type in the calculator is built on a fixed hydration ratio applied to a slice of your total flour. Set a preferment percentage and it takes that share of your total flour weight as the preferment flour. Poolish then matches it with an equal weight of water (100% hydration), biga uses 55% of that flour weight in water (a stiff dough that ferments slower and develops a denser, more complex character), and pâte fermentée uses 60% water plus a slightly higher yeast dose, because a fully salted dough resists yeast activity more than a loose batter does. Whatever flour and water go into the preferment get subtracted from your final dough automatically, so the totals still add up to your original recipe.
Fermentation time is temperature-led rather than clock-led. The same 20% poolish that's ready in 8 to 12 hours at 21C needs 12 to 16 hours in a cooler 16 to 18C kitchen, and can be ready in as little as 4 to 8 hours if your kitchen runs closer to 24C. That's not a rounding error, it's roughly double the fermentation window across a realistic UK indoor temperature range, which is exactly why the calculator asks for room temperature rather than assuming one.
Worked example: a Friday-night poolish
Say you're building a batch of baguettes and want to mix the poolish on Friday evening before heading to the pub, ready to bake Saturday morning. Total flour 500g, preferment 20%, room temperature 21C, the calculator's own defaults.
- Preferment flour: 500g × 20% = 100g
- Poolish is 100% hydration, so water = 100g
- Yeast: 100g × 0.1% = 0.1g, essentially a pinch off the tip of a teaspoon
- Total preferment weight: 100g flour + 100g water + 0.1g yeast = 200.1g
- Ferment time at 21C: 8 to 12 hours, so mixed at 7pm it's ready somewhere between 3am and 7am, well within the window if you're baking mid-morning
- Flour left for the final dough: 500g − 100g = 400g
That 0.1g of yeast looks fiddly to weigh out, and it is. In practice most bakers dissolve a small pinch of instant yeast in the poolish water rather than trying to measure a tenth of a gram on a kitchen scale, it doesn't need to be precise to work.
Common preferment mistakes
Over-yeasting to speed things up
The whole point of a preferment is a long, slow ferment that builds flavour compounds a same-day dough can't produce. Adding extra yeast to rush a poolish or biga along shortens that window and gives you a preferment that behaves more like a quick sponge, mild and one-dimensional instead of complex. If you're short on time, use less preferment percentage rather than more yeast.
Ignoring room temperature and trusting the clock
A poolish left on a warm windowsill can be ready in half the time a cooler kitchen needs, and an over-fermented preferment collapses, turning sour and boozy rather than building the mild complexity you're after. Check the calculator's temperature-adjusted range for your actual kitchen, then check the poolish itself (domed and bubbly, just starting to dimple) rather than watching the clock alone.
Double-counting flour and water in the final dough
The flour and water in your preferment are part of your total recipe, not extra on top of it. Adding your full formula's water again at the final mix pushes hydration well past your target and leaves the dough slack and hard to shape. The calculator handles this subtraction for you, but if you're adapting a recipe by hand, always work from the total flour and water first, then carve out the preferment's share.
Frequently Asked
Questions about
preferments and pre-ferments
What is a preferment and why use one?
A preferment is a portion of the dough mixed in advance and left to ferment before being incorporated into the main dough. It builds flavour, extends shelf life, and improves crust colour and crumb structure. Common preferments include poolish (equal weights of flour and water with a small amount of yeast), biga (stiffer, Italian-style, typically 50 to 60% hydration), and pâte fermentée (a piece of dough held back from a previous bake). Each produces a distinct flavour profile and texture.
What is the difference between poolish and biga?
Poolish is a wet preferment at 100% hydration, meaning equal weights of flour and water. It produces a light, open crumb with mild acidity and a good caramelised crust. Biga is a stiff Italian preferment, typically 50 to 60% hydration. The lower water content slows fermentation, producing a more complex, slightly sweeter flavour with an irregular open crumb. Biga is associated with ciabatta and Italian breads. Poolish is more common in French-style breads and baguettes.
How much preferment should I use in a recipe?
Most recipes use between 20% and 40% preferment as a proportion of the total flour weight. Lower percentages give a subtler flavour contribution and a longer final fermentation. Higher percentages produce more complex, tangy flavour and a slightly shorter overall fermentation time for the main dough. The DoughRise preferment calculator lets you set your target percentage and it calculates the exact flour, water, and yeast quantities alongside the adjusted final dough ingredients.
How long can I leave a poolish before it goes past its best?
A poolish is ready once it’s domed, bubbly, and just starting to dimple or slightly recede in the centre, roughly 8 to 12 hours at 21C for a standard 0.1% yeast dose. Leave it much longer and it collapses, turning sharp and boozy as the yeast runs out of food and bacteria take over the flavour. If your kitchen is warmer than 21C, check it earlier rather than trusting the clock, since a few extra degrees can shave hours off the fermentation window without you noticing.
Can I use a sourdough starter instead of a yeasted preferment?
Yes, a mature sourdough starter is essentially a wild-yeast preferment, and you can substitute it for a commercial-yeast poolish or biga in most recipes. The main difference is acidity: sourdough starter brings lactic and acetic acid that build tang and strengthen gluten structure, while a yeasted preferment stays neutral and mild. Swap it in at a similar hydration to the preferment type you’re replacing (100% for poolish-style, 50 to 60% for biga-style) and drop the added yeast entirely, since the starter provides its own.
Do I need to adjust the final dough's water and salt when using a preferment?
Yes, and this is the step people miss most often. The flour and water already sitting in your preferment count towards your recipe’s total, so subtract them from the final dough mix rather than adding your full formula on top, which is exactly what the preferment calculator does automatically. Salt is the other adjustment: it’s typically left out of the preferment entirely and added in full to the final dough, because salt tightens gluten and slows yeast activity, both of which work against what you want during a long, slow preferment ferment.
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