Qué es un levain y en qué se diferencia de la masa madre
Masa madre, levain, lievito madre o chef: los nombres se mezclan, pero el levain es un prefermento que se prepara aparte para una sola hornada.
Preferments are mixtures of flour, water, and a raising agent that are left to ferment before being incorporated into the final dough. They contribute flavor, aroma, and better preservation to bread because the extra fermentation time produces organic acids and alcohols and can modify the population of lactic acid bacteria and wild yeasts.
Sourdough starter is a combination of wild yeasts and bacteria that can live indefinitely if maintained. It is never used entirely in a single batch; some is always reserved to keep the culture alive. Levain, on the other hand, is a sourdough starter made with fresh flour, water, and a small amount of matured starter, which is used entirely in a batch of dough.
The levain serves two main purposes: to increase the amount of preferment when the recipe calls for it and to change the flavor profile for a single batch without altering the starter. A sourdough starter made with more wholemeal flour produces a more acidic final loaf, so for sweet or delicately flavored recipes, it's usually prepared with 100% white flour.
In a pinch, mature sourdough starter can be substituted for levain, although the final flavor may change. As a quick alternative, a 1:1:1 mixture of flour, water, and mature sourdough starter can be prepared, which will mature in 3 to 4 hours at 25–26°C (78–80°F).
Levains can also undergo several preparations; panettone, for example, uses a series of short refreshments before being mixed with the first dough. The percentage of sourdough starter in bread is usually between 6% and 30% of the final dough, and this is not the same as the percentage of prefermented flour.
