Loaf 20 – Ciabatta With Friends
For the most part I feel that I have ciabatta down pretty well. This is the fourth time I’ve made it and it’s reliably good – which isn’t to say I did everything right each time. These loaves were made for friends visiting for the weekend, and they were great.
I still learned a few things, though.
Lessons
- I forgot to fold the dough when I removed it from the fridge in the morning. The dough didn’t tighten up as much as before, so it didn’t hold it’s shape as well as prior loaves.
- Prior to baking, the dough is supposed to be flipped over. This is to have the bubbles that have formed near the top of the dough suddenly find themselves on the bottom and work their ways back up, evening out the crumb. I flipped over one of the loaves and the parchment paper it was on had stuck. I pulled off the paper and left the second loaf alone. Next time I’m doing the fold properly, using more flour on the table and dough top, and not using parchment paper for the first part.
- Results can be seen in the pictures below. The loaf that was flipped has a more even distribution of holes in the crumb, but didn’t rise as much because of the sloppy handling. The other loaf rose more but has small holes at the bottom and large holes at the top.
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- Mixed ingredients
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- Ready for a night in the fridge
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- The loaf that was left alone without flipping
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- The nasty loaf that underwent premature paper removal
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- Side by side comparison
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- Results – handled loaf on left, gentle on right
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- Overhandled loaf – didn’t rise as much, odd shaped holes, but largish holes along the bottom
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- Not flipped loaf has large holes on the top, small holes on the bottom, and holes against the crust.
