The BBA group has reached the letter C in Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Now that I’m past some personal issues that put the BBA Challenge in the background, I’m happy to return in time to bake ciabatta. When I was baking about 4 years ago, ciabatta was my favorite bread because I liked working with the extremely lax dough. It was such a different experience from the other breads I’d baked. I went into the ciabatta challenge looking forward to the huge holes I should see in this free-form bread.
FIRST GO AT THE RECIPE
At that point I put the dough together. Now, it’s been a few years since I made ciabatta, and Reinhart’s instructions seemed less laborious than the one I remembered. I remember studying while making ciabatta and taking a break every so often for the stretch-and-folds. Reinhart doesn’t call for all of that, so I can’t imagine whose recipe I followed- unless I’m misunderstanding Reinhart’s instructions. I tend to screw things up the first time around anyway, so I will be making this twice!
The dough increased in volume during the fermentation, but it wasn’t a particularly noticeable change, which had me worrying about the poolish again. I stumbled gaily forward anyway, doing a couple of stretch-and-folds when called for. How many was I supposed to do each time? I only did a couple.
I enjoyed making the couche out of my linens, which I’d ordered online. I divided the dough in two, making one loaf bigger than the other and pretending I’d planned it that way. The dough definitely rose during this last proof, so I had some hope for success.
Baking this dough is a little trickier, as it is so sticky. Actually, baking it isn’t the issue- getting it to the baking stone is the challenge! I managed to get my hand under one end of the dough and the bench knife under the oven. The dough stayed together long enough for me to rush it onto the stone, which I’d covered with coarse corn meal. I baked it for the required 10 minutes and was pleased with its funky shape in the oven. Not much rise, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I removed it from the oven 10 minutes or so later, the temperature reached 205F. The crust was light brown and dusty with flour- not bad looking at all.
Time for the second loaf! I try to do things a little differently when I have a second loaf from the same dough, just to give myself something to learn. The second loaf was bigger and more unwieldy. By the time it reached the stone it was shaped like a giant sea horse! I baked the second loaf about 2 minutes longer, which caused it to develop a darker brown crust (cracker-like on a section that had hung over the baking stone) and smelled just as delicious as the first loaf.
The crumb of these loaves was soft and creamy. I was hoping for bigger holes, but I’ve seen ciabatta with holes this size so I don’t feel I completely screwed up.
The taste was absolutely amazing. Nothing to complain about there. The tender crumb revealed a subtle sweetness and a flavor my room mate described as buttery. The crust held a hint of saltiness. These loaves were gone by midnight!
SECOND GO-AROUND
The shaped loaves were easily rolled off the couche onto the baking stone without losing their shape. They had risen quite well and had a bit of a “skin” on them.
The first loaf came out with a beautiful tan color, dusted with flour. Yesterday’s color was a little less rich- perhaps more gray, though still attractive. Today’s baked loaf was lighter than yesterday’s and showed some oven spring.
The second loaf suffered a terrible accident. Somehow I missed the heated pan on the top shelf and ended up soaking a quarter of the dough in water - lengthwise! Then the house filled with light smoke because the water washed some of the cornmeal from the baking stone onto the bottom of the oven, where it burned. And to top it off, I burned my thumb pulling the dough off the stone because it was slightly stuck. Sigh...
All things told, though, the “disaster” doesn’t look too bad. It’s shiny, like those loaves in the grocery store (I can’t stand shiny loaves) but it isn’t too scary looking.
The crumb doesn’t look too much different from yesterday’s batch, though the holes are a tad bigger on average. I think yesterday’s crumb was a bit creamier, evoking more of a buttery sensation. Today’s bread is wonderful, though- soft and still creamy in its own way. I do not taste salt as clearly in today’s loaf as yesterdays
Overall I’m happy with my ciabatta experience, and am thrilled that it has been a big hit with the room mates. I’m even submitting this to Yeastspotting! I will definitely bake this again, and want to try a sourdough ciabatta soon.
