Understanding the BIGA

Everyone talks about it and uses it. But where does it come from? Why was it invented? By whom? What does it do?

Biga takes its name from the war chariot used in Roman times, which was fast thanks to its relatively light weight.

Biga in bread making shares this “speed” in rising... we'll talk about all that in a few minutes.

Biga is defined as a pre-ferment, i.e., a preparation made before the kneading stage of our product, pizza or bread.

The method of preparing dough using biga is called indirect dough mixing.

A Biga Giorilli after fermentation

Giorilli's biga

Biga is a fairly common practice that has been around for a long time. It is used to compensate for the lack of certain rheological characteristics in flour (mainly in terms of elasticity).

Piergiorgio Giorilli, an Italian master baker, was the first to modernize the biga, using modern flours (in terms of rheological characteristics), and thus obtain a suitable result for several products, such as bread and pizza.

When we talk about biga today, we are referring to the biga “codified” by Giorilli, known as biga Giorilli: it is simply a mixture of flour, water, and yeast left to rest for several hours at room temperature. This pre-ferment, thanks to fermentation and maturation entirely at room temperature and with a significant amount of yeast, brings the strength and elasticity sought in the final product.

Giorilli's biga is as follows:

• Flour (Type 00/0 or T45/T55/T65) with a strength greater than W300

• 44-45% hydration

• 1% fresh yeast

When kneading, it is very important to simply mix the ingredients together and not form a compact dough or a resistant gluten network. The biga should remain fairly unkneaded and in pieces.

Once kneaded, the biga is left to ferment for 18 hours at 18°C.

The GIORILLI Biga right after kneading

For proper fermentation, the temperature of the Giorilli biga at the end of fermentation should be around 20°-21°C.

A biga made with these measurements and resting time gives a very specific and calibrated result, namely Giorilli biga. It is possible to change the measurements and times, but everything must be calibrated to achieve a very specific result, more or less close to Giorilli biga, depending on your needs. One of the advantages of biga is undoubtedly its standardization thanks to the adherence to these temperatures and resting times. Changing these variables arbitrarily and without control will lead to a preparation that is difficult to replicate, regular, and standardize.

A biga after cold fermentation

What does biga bring us?

The benefits in the final product are twofold: flavors/aromas on the one hand, and structure on the other.

The first benefit in terms of taste is the result of fermentation (especially lactic) and maturation, during which the biga develops a whole series of organic acids that will give flavor to the crumb of our final product.

Secondly, biga helps to create a well-developed, open, and honeycombed structure, which is sought after in certain products such as bread or thick pizzas like Roman pizza.

For these reasons, biga is now an excellent choice for making Roman-style pizza in Teglia or pizza alla pala, or even bread, which are thick preparations and therefore require a particularly well-developed, honeycombed structure, allowing the flavors of the dough to be fully appreciated.

For Neapolitan pizza, the advantages of biga are less obvious, as it is very thin. Certainly, biga can give us the famous honeycomb crust, the “cornicione,” but direct kneading is often a more effective and equally valid solution.

An example of roman "Pizza in Teglia", using Biga

How can you recognize a successful biga?

A successful biga has the following characteristics at the end of fermentation

• A slightly puffed appearance

• A pleasant smell, similar to yogurt

• A compact structure

How do you make it in practice?

No special tools are needed to prepare the biga: up to a few kilos of flour can be prepared by hand without any problems.

However, fixed and controlled temperatures are required for its management, particularly for standardization, especially in a professional context.

For the kneading phase of our final product, i.e., when the other ingredients in our recipe are added to the biga, a food processor/kneading machine is necessary to ensure that the biga is well mixed into the dough.