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28d • Bread Banter 💬 🥖
Word of the Day is...POINTAGE
Bake Like a Boulanger month continues! Today's word is POINTAGE.
In the rhythmic life of a sourdough loaf, we arrive at the pointage, which literally translates to "pointing" and is pronounced pwan-tahzh.
Within the professional French boulangerie, this term refers to the primary or bulk fermentation, that critical period between the end of the mix and the division of the dough where the wild yeast and bacteria perform their most transformative work.
Historically, the name originates from the old French practice of checking if the dough was "to the point" of readiness, a sensory skill passed down through generations of artisans who relied on the smell and feel of the dough rather than modern timers. This stage is where the vast majority of your bread's flavor profile and organic acids are developed; it is a delicate dance of patience that sets the stage for the détente, or the short rest after dividing, and ultimately influences the grignage, the artistic blooming of the crust during the bake.
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Word of the Day is...POINTAGE
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