I typically make a dough like this:
100% Caputo Pizzeria
64% Water
2.8% Salt
1.75% Camaldoli Starter
I do a ~21hr bulk rise, make balls, then 3-4hr individual rise. My question is this: should the starter be in poolish form, or in biga form? Does it matter?
I have always done it using a poolish, but it occurred to me recently that bigas are often used to improve the gluten structure in breads and the like, and the traditional "criscito" or old dough would obviously be closer to a biga than a poolish. So I decided to try it to see if it would make a difference. Unfortunately, I was forced to change several other variables as well; most notably, I ran out of Caputo, so I used Five Roses AP. I also had to make 24 pizze, so in lieu of making several batches, I made one big hand-kneaded batch. Finally, I usually do an autolyse with all the ingredients (but only 75% of the flour), but this time I did only the flour and the water. The final results, by the way, were spectacular, especially considering I used AP flour. I just have no way of knowing if using a biga contributed to that or not.
I don't know when I will have another opportunity to experiment with this more, so I humble myself before you, the experts, to see if your trials have shown a difference between biga and poolish . . . or if it even matters with so very little starter to begin with. I look forward to either theoretical or practical answers. Thanks very much.