The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Help with Jason's Ciabatta for 100% Red Spring Wheat.

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Help with Jason's Ciabatta for 100% Red Spring Wheat.

If you have looked at the rest of the site, you probably ran across the many posts ( I think 2 full pages or more ) on Jason's Quick Ciabbatta.  I made it with bread flour, and by the end of the second rise is is very airy, and then when you pop it in the oven, I got tremendous spring.  I have tried it about a dozen times with 100% red spring wheat ( using a Wonder mill ) and can't get the same results - either I get no spring, or in the worst cases it falls.  I have tried increasing the hydration to 100% and 110%,  I also tried increasing the yeast, and still no spring. I thought I might be degassing it too much when I transfered it to the peel, so I started putting it on parchment paper for its second rise, and still no luck.   It still tastes good, but it looks very weird, because it comes out like the shape of biscotti, -  actually flatter than biscotti.  I use an autolyze of 1/2 hour, rather than beating it in a kitchen aid for 20 minutes.    I then run the food processor on dough speed for a short time - say 20 to 40 seconds, and the dough looks similar to the video - very sticky and moist.  I pour - scrape it into a bowl, let it triple in size, then degas, and let it rise for another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes,  then put it in the oven, pour boiling water into a preheated pan that has lava rocks, yet no spring.  One time I even tried misting the loaf, no rise, and the crust looked under cooked.  Any suggestions? 

jcking's picture
jcking

Grinding your own; commercial mills use oxidation to decrease thiol groups present in flour. That could be the problem.

Jim

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

How does your home ground flour perform with other recipes?

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Mr.Frost,  my home ground flour works pretty well in other recipes.  I have made the same sandwich loaf using KAWW and home ground and get similar results. Now that you mention it, I will have to try the Ciabatta using KAWW and see how it turns out.

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Yes. That brings to mind; a recipe such as this, made with all white flour, may behave markedly different when made with 100% whole wheat.

Of course, all things being equal, a whole wheat version will never be as high rising as the all white flour version, in most cases. Plus, you may need to make adjustments to get even decent results(increase hydration, yeast, etc).