---
title: "Poolish: what it means in cooking — Tiny Plates"
description: "A poolish is a wet pre-ferment of equal weights flour and water with a little yeast, left overnight. It gives bread a mild, nutty flavor and a crisp crust."
url: "https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/poolish"
---

# Poolish

A poolish is a wet pre-ferment of equal weights flour and water with a little yeast, left overnight. It gives bread a mild, nutty flavor and a crisp crust.

A poolish is a runny mix of flour, water and a small amount of yeast that you make several hours or a day before baking. It uses equal weights of flour and water, so it is 100 percent [hydration](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/hydration). After it ferments, you mix it into the final dough. French bakers use it for baguettes, and it suits pizza and focaccia too.

## How to do it

1. Mix equal weights of flour and water. For example, 200 g flour and 200 ml water.
2. Add a little [yeast](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/yeast). How much depends on how long it will ferment:
  * 12 to 16 hours at room temperature: about 0.1 percent of the flour, a pinch of instant yeast.
  * 6 to 8 hours: about 0.5 percent.
  * 3 to 4 hours: about 1 percent.
3. Stir until smooth. It will look like thick pancake batter.
4. Cover and leave it at room temperature.
5. Add it to the rest of the flour, water, salt and yeast for the final dough.

## How to tell it is done

A ripe poolish has doubled or tripled in volume and is full of bubbles on top. The surface has just started to dome or dip slightly in the center. It smells sweet and alcoholic, like beer. If it has collapsed a lot and smells sharp or like nail polish, it went too far, but it is usually still usable.

## Why it works

Slow fermentation lets enzymes break down starch into sugars and lets yeast and bacteria make flavor. The wet mix ferments faster than a stiff [biga](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/biga) and leans toward a mild, nutty, slightly tangy taste. The extra sugars help the crust brown and turn crisp.

## Common mistakes

* Too much yeast for the time. It peaks early and the flavor gains are lost.
* A container that is too small. A poolish can triple and spill over.
* Using it long past its peak. The bread can taste sour and rise poorly.

## In recipes

Recipes may say "prepare the poolish the night before" or give it as a share of the total flour, often 20 to 50 percent. It is a different thing from a [sourdough starter](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/sourdough-starter), which is kept alive and fed and uses wild yeast.

## Where it comes from

The name is thought to come from Polish bakers who brought the method to France in the 1800s.

## Related terms

* [BigaA biga is a stiff Italian pre-ferment of flour, water and a pinch of yeast, left to ripen overnight. It gives bread a deeper flavor and an open crumb.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/biga)
* [Sourdough starterA sourdough starter is a fed mix of flour and water full of wild yeast and bacteria that leavens bread. Here is how to make, feed and store one.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/sourdough-starter)
* [HydrationHydration is the weight of water in a bread dough as a percent of the flour weight. Higher numbers mean a wetter dough and a more open crumb.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/hydration)
* [YeastYeast is a living fungus that makes bread rise. Fresh, active dry and instant yeast explained, with conversions, temperatures and what goes wrong.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/yeast)
* [Bulk fermentationBulk fermentation is the first rise, when bread dough ferments in one mass before shaping. It builds flavor and strength. Here is how to judge it.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/bulk-fermentation)

[More in baking and dough](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/category/baking-and-dough)[Every term from A to Z](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary)