If you’re ready to take your pizza-making skills to the next level, a great place to start is the world of preferments. A simple mix of flour, water and yeast that’s made in advance of cooking, preferments are added to the final dough for extra flavour, texture and quality. 

One of the most popular types of preferments is poolish, which refers to the techniques of Polish bakers who transported their methods to France. For insight, we turn to the pages of “Modernist Pizza” by the founder of Modernist Cuisine, Nathan Myhrvold, and head chef of Modernist Cuisine, Francisco Migoya:

“Poolish is a high-hydration (100%) preferment made from flour, water, and instant yeast. [...] One of the most common types of preferments, poolish is widely used by professional pizza makers in North America (though rarely by Italian pizzaioli, who generally prefer to make direct doughs). Because it is based on commercially manufactured yeast, it does not have the tangy flavour of a levain [sourdough starter].”

According to Migoya, a poolish can be mixed and fermented at room temperature, doesn't need to be maintained, and, due to its wetness, is easier to incorporate into the final dough than a biga. (A biga is a term used in Italian baking and is usually drier and stiffer than a poolish.) Adding a poolish to the dough will also give you a shorter mix time and less dough development, making for a more visually appealing crumb.

A poolish typically needs 6 to 12 hours to ferment, adding a nice buttery and nutty flavour to the final dough. This is great for classic pizzas like our recipe here with tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan and fresh basil, but it also works well for dessert pizzas!