When you look through my recipes for bread you may recognise that nearly all asked for a preferment or a sourdough starter.

The advance of preferment is that it enhances flavour and shelf life. After baking with preferment for some time you will think that straight baked breads taste flat, missing the complex flavours of a slow rising bread.

The different kinds of preferment can be confusing for a beginner so I started this page as a comprisal.

Yeasted preferment

• Pâte fermentée
• Poolish
• Biga

“Null” doughs (without micro-organisms)

• Water roux

Sauerteige

• Starting a Sourdough (mixture of rye, wheat and spelt)
• Starting a Sourdough (pure wheat or rye)
• Caring for a sourdough
• Krümmelsauer / Gerstl
• Sweet Starter
• How to dry and reactivate a Sweet Starter
• Raisin Sourdough
• Lievito madre