Name: Poolish/Biga Pizza Dough
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 16 h 38 min
Yield: 4 dough balls
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 620 g 00 or bread flour; 403 g water; 16 g fine sea salt; 1.2 g instant yeast

A pre-ferment is a small batch of flour, water and a little yeast that you mix the day before and let ferment on its own. The next day it goes into the final dough. That overnight head start gives the crust more flavor and better browning than a dough mixed all at once, and it makes the dough easier to stretch. Poolish and biga are the two common kinds. Poolish is wet, equal weights of flour and water. Biga is stiff, roughly half as much water as flour. The calculator on this page handles the split for you, so the water and yeast in the pre-ferment always count toward the totals.

Poolish or biga: which should you use?

Short answer. If this is your first pre-ferment, use poolish. It is easier to mix, easier to judge, and it fits a normal room-temperature kitchen and a 12 to 16 hour overnight window. Choose biga if you want a chewier crust with bigger, more irregular holes, if you are working at high hydration (70% and up), or if you want a pre-ferment that stays usable for longer once it is ready.

	Poolish	Biga
Hydration of the pre-ferment	100% (equal flour and water)	Stiff, about 45 to 60%. The calculator uses 55%
Texture when ready	A loose, bubbly batter with a domed top	A shaggy, firm dough that has roughly doubled
Flavor	Milder and slightly tangy, closer to yogurt	Sharper and more pronounced, closer to vinegar
Crumb	Softer, with smaller and more even holes	Chewier, with larger and fewer holes
Mixing it in	Easy, it dissolves into the final dough	Takes more work, tear it into pieces first
Usable window once ready	Shorter, use it when it peaks	Longer, more forgiving if you are late
Typical fermentation	6 to 16 hours at room temperature	12 to 24 hours, often somewhere cool (60 to 64°F)
Suits	Hand kneading, Neapolitan and New York styles at 60 to 68% hydration	High hydration doughs, pan pizza, anyone who wants more chew

The differences in the finished pizza are real but not dramatic. Most people would notice the chew and the hole structure before they noticed the flavor. If you make both from the same recipe you will have a better sense of which you prefer than any table can give you.

The Art of Pre-Fermentation

Pre-ferments have been used in bread baking for centuries. Poolish takes its name from the Polish bakers who popularized it in France, where it became a staple of bread-making. Biga is the Italian counterpart, used in ciabatta and many traditional Italian breads. Pizza makers borrowed both for the reason bakers did: more flavor than a straight dough gives you. Many well-known pizzerias now use one or the other.

How Pre-Ferments Improve Dough

During the 12-16 hour pre-ferment, yeast produces CO2, alcohol, and organic acids that contribute to flavor. Enzymes (amylase, protease) break down starches and proteins, improving dough extensibility and browning. The acids also strengthen the gluten network. Pre-fermenting 20 to 30% of the total flour gives you those benefits without over-fermenting the final dough. Poolish's high hydration promotes more enzymatic activity, while biga's lower hydration concentrates flavors differently.

How much of the flour to pre-ferment

The calculator lets you pre-ferment 15 to 50% of the total flour. Around 20 to 30% is the usual range for pizza and is the default here (25%). More pre-fermented flour means more flavor and a chewier, more open crumb, but the effect levels off around half the flour, and a dough with a very large pre-ferment is harder to time because so much of it is already fermented when you mix it. Start at 25% and move up once you have a feel for it.

A worked example

Four 12-inch pizzas, 260 g dough balls, 65% hydration, 2.5% salt, 0.2% instant yeast, 25% of the flour in the pre-ferment. These are the numbers the calculator produces for the default settings on this page.

Totals for the whole recipe: 620 g flour, 403 g water, 16 g salt, 1.2 g instant yeast.

With a poolish:

Stage	Flour	Water	Salt	Instant yeast
Poolish (day 1)	155 g	155 g	none	0.2 g
Final dough (day 2)	465 g	248 g	16 g	1.1 g

With a biga at 55% hydration:

Stage	Flour	Water	Salt	Instant yeast
Biga (day 1)	155 g	85 g	none	0.2 g
Final dough (day 2)	465 g	318 g	16 g	1.1 g

Note the water. The biga holds back 70 g of water that then goes into the final dough instead. That is the whole difference between the two on paper. The pre-ferment’s flour and water are part of the recipe, not extra, which is the mistake most people make when they first try one.

Change the number of pizzas, ball size or hydration in the calculator and it recalculates both stages. Amounts under 10 g are shown to a tenth of a gram, so you will want a scale that reads to 0.1 g for the yeast.

Yeast in the pre-ferment

The pre-ferment needs very little yeast, because it has all night to work. The usual guidance for instant dry yeast, as a percentage of the flour in the pre-ferment, in a kitchen around 68 to 72°F:

Pre-ferment ready in	Instant yeast
About 8 hours	0.2 to 0.3%
About 12 hours	0.1 to 0.2%
About 16 hours	0.03 to 0.1%

The calculator uses 0.1% of the pre-ferment flour, which suits the 12 to 16 hour overnight window most people use. The rest of the recipe’s yeast goes into the final dough. In a warm kitchen, use the low end of each range. If you use active dry yeast, switch the yeast type in the calculator and it adjusts the amounts.

A two-day schedule

This is an estimate for a kitchen at 68 to 72°F. Warmer rooms run faster, cooler rooms slower, and the readiness signs matter more than the clock.

Day 1, evening (around 8 pm).Mix the pre-ferment. Stir the flour, water and yeast together until there is no dry flour, cover the container, and leave it on the counter.

Day 2, morning (8 to 10 am).Check the pre-ferment. A poolish is ready when it has roughly doubled, the top is domed and covered in small bubbles, and it smells mildly tangy. A biga is ready when it has doubled and smells yeasty and pleasant. If a poolish has sunk in the middle and left a high-tide mark on the container, or either one smells sharply of alcohol, it has gone too far. It will still make dough, but the flavor will be harsher and the dough weaker.

Day 2, late morning.Mix the final dough. Combine the pre-ferment with the remaining flour, water, salt and yeast. Knead 10 to 15 minutes by hand until smooth. Pre-fermented dough is noticeably more extensible than a straight dough, so it will feel softer than you expect.

Day 2, midday.Bulk ferment 2 to 3 hours at room temperature until roughly doubled.

Day 2, early afternoon.Divide into 260 g balls and shape them with a tight surface. Proof the balls, covered, for 2 to 4 hours at room temperature.

Day 2, evening (5 to 7 pm).Stretch and bake at 500 to 575°F for 5 to 8 minutes. Pre-fermented doughs brown faster because the long ferment frees up more sugars, so watch the first pizza.

If you want to bake the following day instead, put the balls in the fridge after shaping and take them out 1 to 2 hours before you bake. Up to 24 hours in the fridge is fine for a pre-fermented dough. Beyond that it starts to lose strength.

How to Make Pre-Fermented Pizza Dough

Mix the pre-ferment. Day 1: stir the pre-ferment flour, water and yeast together until no dry flour remains. Cover.
Ferment overnight. Leave at room temperature 12 to 16 hours. Poolish should be bubbly and domed; biga should have doubled.
Mix the final dough. Day 2: combine the pre-ferment with the remaining flour, water, salt and yeast. Tear a biga into pieces first so it mixes in evenly.
Knead. 10 to 15 minutes by hand until smooth and elastic.
Bulk ferment. 2 to 3 hours at room temperature until roughly doubled.
Divide and ball. Portion into 260 g balls for 12-inch pizzas and shape with surface tension.
Proof. 2 to 4 hours at room temperature, covered, or refrigerate up to 24 hours and warm up 1 to 2 hours before baking.
Bake. 500 to 575°F for 5 to 8 minutes. Pre-fermented dough browns faster, so check early.

Pro Tips

✓ Poolish (liquid) = more open crumb, mild flavor
✓ Biga (stiff) = more complex flavor, tighter crumb
✓ Start pre-ferment 12-16 hours before final dough
✓ Pre-ferment should be bubbly and slightly domed when ready

Fermentation Guide

Day 1: Mix pre-ferment (flour + water + pinch of yeast), cover, ferment 12-16 hours at room temp until bubbly and domed. Day 2: Mix final dough with pre-ferment. Bulk ferment 2-3 hours. Ball and proof 2-4 hours before stretching.

Water temperature: 65-70°F / 18-21°C (cool)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

✗ Forgetting that the pre-ferment’s flour and water are part of the recipe. They are not extra. The calculator subtracts them from the totals for you; if you are working from a recipe elsewhere, do the same.
✗ Too much yeast in the pre-ferment. 0.1% of the pre-ferment flour is enough for an overnight ferment. More than that and it peaks at 3 am and collapses by breakfast.
✗ Using the pre-ferment too late. A collapsed poolish or a biga that smells of alcohol has spent its strength. It still makes dough, but a weaker, sourer one.
✗ Using it too early. If it is not bubbly and risen, most of the benefit has not happened yet. Give it another hour or two.
✗ Rushing the second day. The pre-ferment does not shorten the final dough’s timeline. It still needs a bulk ferment and a proof after balling.

Poolish/Biga Pizza Dough

At a Glance