BBA Ciabatta

OK, guess I was due for a failure and this was it.  I made ciabatta bread yesterday and mine has NO holes in it.  I did some online research and I know what was wrong.  So I'll try again and hopefully the next time with be replete with holes!

So what I learned from online research is that I kneaded the ciabatta too long.  In Rinehart's book he says to mix on medium mixer speed for 5 - 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Being an oldest child and always following the rules, I did exactly that - mixed for 5 minutes and changed to the dough hook for the last 2 minutes.

As a result my ciabatta developed too much gluten.  I have made ciabatta before from a different recipe (Bertinett's Dough)  and it had great holes.  Bertinett advises not using the mixer and I think I'll go that way the next time I try the Rinehart recipe.

Anyway my rather pitiful photos are below, including the unattractive, non-ciabatta looking slices where in addition to the lack of holes, you can also see the flour line created when I folded the dough "like a letter" as per the instructions.

Better luck next time and there will be a next time - I will NOT be defeated!




Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.