levain

 Sometimes an overnight bulk ferment just doesn't work. Whether you want pizza or naan for dinner, or you just didn't get to mixing dough up Thursday evening for Shabbat bread, or even if your house is just plain too warm for it not to overferment at night...a day bulk ferment is a big help!

Here's a couple ways to work it out:

1) mix a STIFF levain at night before bed (9 pm), this starts with 6g (-1 teaspoon) ripe leaven, and feed with a hefty portion of flour to water (an example is 94g integral spelt flour, 88g water)--you want it drier so it feerments slower and keeps its gluten intact. Use in your dough mix in the morning!

2) this is how I've done it for years, and it also works! SUPER early (4-4:20 am) pour off 1/2 cup of what you fed the afternoon before, into a second quart jar and feed the same way (114g each leaven, water, flour) If you don't use a scale, it's ABOUT 1/2 cup leaven, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup flour--if it seems runny, add flour until you have a muffin batter consistency. The flour is the food, so giving it more fuel will increase the growth you see. Use in your dough mix around 9 am once it's nice and bubbly, and floats!

Both of these ways allow you to bake bread in the evening, instead of early in the morning!