Scrap Dough

Scrap dough is simply a piece of fermented bread dough saved from a previous batch. It is sometimes known as pâte fermentée (pot fer mawn tay), meaning “fermented dough.” Saving a piece of fermented dough, preferably in the retarder so it doesn’t overferment, is an easy and common way to get the benefits of using a pre-ferment without having to make one separately. Of course, it is also possible to make a batch of bread dough just to use as a pre-ferment.