Ciabatta Bread Help!!!

[Tracydr]

Great instructions!
Worth, when working with very wet doughs it helps to use water instead of flour on your hands. I also use a wet dough knife which helps with lifting off the board and cutting. A canvas cloth,well floured,will help with proofing.
Weighing is the most important thing. I ignore bread recipes with volume measures. Those are fine for bread cooked in a regular basis where you know what it should feel like but starting with a new bread it will only increase the chances of failure.
Sourdough ciabatta is really good. You should make a sourdough starter sometime.

[ginger2778]

I feel so ignorant right now. Please can someone explain the sponges thing? I see the photos but I still( I am very thick sometimes) don't understand.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by mdvpc

A lot of home bakers use a dutch oven to bake in-with the cover on for the first part of the bake, then off for the last part.

I do that with the no-knead bread recipe. Never thought to try it with other breads!

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I feel so ignorant right now. Please can someone explain the sponges thing? I see the photos but I still( I am very thick sometimes) don't understand.

It's basically a fresh starter (vs and aged/sourdough starter).

[mdvpc]

Craftsy has some great video courses, sometimes 1/2 off. From some very well-known bakers-Hammelman, Reinhart, etc. You can watch them over and over if you want. There is a FB group called Perfect Sourdough that has a lot of good information. The person that started Perfect Sourdough also has video courses, sometimes very inexpensive, may even be a free introductory course-she is a very good baker, and her video classes are very good-her name is Teresa Greenway.

[mdvpc]

A bread I baked yesterday.

[oakley]

We bake most of our breads in covered dutch oven, cast iron and enameled cast iron.
This double boule i thought was a bit burnt but it was moist and tender inside, good crumb. Nice crust. Hard to control heat in our wood fired oven but at #1 home we have more control.
The only breads we don't use the covered dutch oven method are rolls, focaccia, baguette ...

[Worth1]

I have a spray bottle filled with kerosene I use.
The resulting flash fire makes the crust extra crispy.

[Worth1]

I saw so many and looked at so many ways to do this.
None of them the same I decided to just do what I wanted to do by combining the instructions.
Here is the beast rising as we speak.
Disaster number one.
Worth
IMG_20160618_8733.jpg

[Worth1]

More of disaster number one.
Worth
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[Worth1]

Taste and texture report on the small loaf.
The holes weren't as large but the flavor was the same.
It was light and airy and paired well with butter.
The next batch is a wee bit more wet and is in a big container rising as we speak.
It will be cut up into smaller loaves and not baked as long then cooled and put in the freezer for later use.

Worth

[PhilaGardener]

Looks great!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by PhilaGardener

Looks great!

Thanks.
Here is the next herd getting ready to go in the oven.
The dough was even more wet and I let it rise longer for bigger mayonnaise capturing holes.
Worth
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[Worth1]

Here they are cooling and getting ready to be frozen for later use for sandwichs and hamburgers.
When I bake them again I thaw them out and slather olive oil all over them.
It makes them very crispy and crunchy on the outside.
Thanks for all the help.
Worth
IMG_20160618_2968.jpg

[sdambr]

Yum, those look great and are making me hungry. I hope they are as good as they look. Couldn't offer any help here, but I am sure learning a bunch.