I will keep this post short and share some pictures with you. If you have any thoughts as to what went wrong, please let me know. I will definitely try this recipe again and blog about it.
Final thoughts:
- The baked bread smelled great. No yeasty or off odor at all. When I cut into it, I saw that the interior was fairly off-white (more than usual), moist (but not gummy), and extremely chewy (my jaw was hurting after eating one, ha ha). The taste was good. It was just a texture thing that wasn't quite right.
- I will make another attempt at this recipe. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time :o)
That is quite the difference between the two! Not sure what happened, two things come to mind; not enough gluten structure to keep the "oomph" up well enough and the baking temperature; baked a tad too long in a tad too cold oven?
ReplyDeleteBoth together would probably get you this result. A little less water or maybe stronger flour? A hot oven will get your bread up quickly, expand the crumb and seal it with a crust. This looks like it had time to do the ovenspring meanwhile already sealing it with the beginning of a crust causing the interior go chewy/gummy.
Just my two cents, it's hard to say afterwards LOL!
The interior being not white is something that (I think) belongs to some
Thanks for chiming in, Baking Soda. I used bread flour (high gluten flour) and my oven had been preheating for about 45 min prior to baking. It's probably too much water or something else that caused the gluten not to develop properly. I'll just have to try it again :o)
DeleteHanaâ, too much water will not be the issue - the more, the "hole-ier".
ReplyDeleteThere is no error in the formula that I know of (I emailed you the errata sheet in case you don't have it).
You might let it rise a little longer - my highly hydrated Pains a l'Ancienne get larger holes when I let them rise a longer, you should see larger bubbles under the surface.
Is your oven temperature correct, as Baking Soda suggested?
Did you use high gluten bread flour?
I never tried this one, I usually make the whole wheat version from "Whole Grain Breads".
Thanks for emailing me the errata sheet. I think you have a good point. Maybe it didn't rise long enough. My oven temp was correct (at least, according to my oven thermometer) and I used high gluten bread flour. I'll just have to try it again! Thanks for chiming in :o)
DeleteI love Ciabatta bread Hanaâ! Look at those lovely holes in your bread, so cute!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you really if there is an error in your recipe, I'm not good in Italian Bread. However, I prepared Ciabatta several times, and I can tell you that my dough was very runny and looked like Moroccan Sfenj or Italian Focaccia Dough, so sticky that it was hard to shape it, but I was happy when it was cooked and out of the oven, with so many holes everywhere. so I don't think the water is the issue here, but can't tell for sure I'm afraid.
Have a great day my friend,
Cheers
Mamatkamal
Thanks for your insight. My dough had the consistency of Moroccan Sfenj as well. I'm thinking I didn't let it rise long enough, as suggested by Hanseata above. I will definitely try it again because I too LOVE Ciabatta bread.
DeleteHi Hanaa,
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good at making Ciabatta. I've read that there are different textures in Ciabatta, some are airy with large holes, some are soft, dense and chewy, but they all have similar large holes. I noticed a high speed is used when beating the very soft dough using a stand mixer, could it be this? I have yet to try with a high speed, perhaps the next time I will when I'm making Ciabatta, which is definitely a bread that I want to try again!
Thanks Kitchen Flavours! I think it's just a very tricky bread to make and I'll just have to practice making it until I get it right, ha ha. I love Ciabatta bread so it's definitely worth making again and try to get better results.
DeleteI applaud your ambition to make ciabatta! Yes, I am practicing for the state fair. I just can't get a final brownie or CCC!!
ReplyDeleteHow about you?
Thanks Gloria :o) I applaud you for having started practicing for the State Fair. I haven't yet!!! Are you entering any yeast recipes this year? I might give that a shot this year.
DeleteThe crumb looks great to me Hanaa...it's open like how ciabatta should be! Too bad the texture wasn't to your liking...but I bet it still tasted great!
ReplyDeleteHi Hanaa, just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
ReplyDeletehttp://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.ca/
This is an awesome post
ReplyDelete