Ciabatta

[splatgirl]

Re: Ciabatta

I think Jason's is worth it just for the experience of seeing and working with such a weird dough. I would NEVER have thought that water and flour and yeast would become something so otherworldly just from whapping about in the KA for a while. And it makes an awesome loaf. Looks like you had a great success, Rossco!
I agree that it is a PITA to have to babysit the mixer for that long, but I consider that the trade for having to do basically nothing else except portion the dough. Try spraying the paddle with cooking spray before you start. I found that helps quite a bit.
I took to rising mine in a rectangular plastic bucket. I just dump that directly onto floured parchment and then use my scraper to cut it into three log shaped blobs and scoot them apart a bit, leaving an extra blank spot on the parchment at one end. When it's time to flip and bake, I cut the sheet of parchment apart and use it to flip the loaves over onto the neighboring section of parchment. Basically I never actually touch the dough once it leaves the mixer bowl.

Jay, boiling water for thermometer calibration? That's how I do mine.

[heliman]

Re: Ciabatta

I am keen to make another batch of Jason's brew but I think I have killed my KA so will need to send it in for a fix/rebuild. Not sure if it going to be worth it though so may have to consider another (probably not KA) bench mixer for quick jobs.

The standard KA is a very poor machine in my view when it comes to preparing dough. It looks OK though and should work OK for meringues and silly little tarts and stuff but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for any REAL work [end rant].

Today I think I may make something sourdough. I cranked the starter up last night and it looks like it is ready for some action. Putting together a pot of soup too (my mom's recipe) and the bread would make a good accompaniment for it. I will have to manage the sourness though - the wife didn't like the tast of the last sour pizza dough and I had to toss it out. I will try and reduce the starter % and that will hopefully fix the problem.

Any suggestions on a good, quick sourdough recipe that I can try?

[heliman]

Re: Ciabatta

Jason's Take 2
===========

Using a protein enriched flour this time (13%) over the superb bakers flour (11%) I used last time, I set to work adding ingredients. I cranked up the glear-clattering, smoke-smelling, counter-jumping, no low and high speed option KA for some more action. In a display reminiscent of the Flight of the Valkyries scene in Apocalypse Now, the helicopter like beast slapped and abused that dough mercilessly for exactly 10 mins until, miraculously, it pulled away from the sides. It is now resting peacefully (not RIP I hope!) in the bowl awaiting to rise...

To be continued..

BTW the sourdough bread "firm starter" is not doubling as yet, although halfway into the 4 hours into the proofing time. Hopefully some action soon. This is going to be a long wait I reckon... so I have taken a few semolina pizza bases out of the fridge for a late lunch snack. They seemed to have proofed well so I am keen to see how they turn out.

[texassourdough]

Re: Ciabatta

Hi Splat!

Good suggestion of spraying the beater. I will try that next time!

And I have used water in the past, and it seems I am reasonably accurate, but....I need to get the exact altitude correction for my elevation (not very much but...) just for curiosity.

I may do some Jason's this afternoon. Been a while!
Jay

[leeadams]

Re: Ciabatta

Hi, am interested in any help I can get regarding ciabatta bread. I am using a good recipe which produces a nice loaf with a holey, chewy soft centre and a good crust, however I want buns, Not flat buns but good well risen buns. Is there anything I could do to my current recipe to encourage less spreading of the dough and greater rising without changing the texture too greatly? Would appreciate your comments please.
Thanks Lee

[splatgirl]

Re: Ciabatta

The ciabatta recipe referenced upthread gets it's final proof freestanding and with that formula just portioning the dough in bun size blobs would likely produce something with a decently tall shape. Most of the times I've made it I end up with virtually cylindrical loaves, so there's certainly no lack of tension or spring to that dough.
The degree to which a dough holds it's shape has a lot to do with technique and shaping, although hydration and gluten development are factors as well. The Jason's ciabatta recipe I am most familiar with doesn't actually get shaped, more like just divided up with a dough cutter and in my case, rolled from one sheet of parchment to another without ever really being touched, but the same technique would apply regardless of how you portion it.
With other recipes that call for more active, formal shaping, rounding into a ball vs. using some kind of cutter or making a more pancake shaped thing would be one suggestion. You could also try some method of couching the portioned dough--I know there are bun pans that have shallow depressions for the dough to sit in, or maybe one of those jumbo muffin tins. You could either do just the final rise in the pan and then dump them out onto parchment for baking or bake right in the tin.
I would suggest trying the Jason's recipe for this in any case. It will give you some good comparative info.