The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Someone tell me the science behind this loaf

trhoma6432's picture
trhoma6432

Someone tell me the science behind this loaf

I posted last week a question about real Italian ciabatta vs. American version of ciabatta and I received some good responses. My question was about achieving the texture on my ciabatta that I remembered the ciabatta I had in Italy having. The crust of my ciabatta is picture perfect and I'm able to achieve the large holes which I wanted. I used Peter Reinharts formula which by the way is excellent but here is the rub. The crumb always turns out "crumbly".not chewy. NOW-here is the question. I took a loaf last night and placed it in the microwave to warm it up while I finished off the ragu. I put it on 2mins. and a few minutes later I reheated it again for 2mins. When I pulled it out to cut it, it was perfect. The crust was chewy and crunchy; the inner texture was chewy just like the Italian versions I would get in Italy. Someone tell me what happened. Why did the microwave change the inner texture from crumbly to chewy and why did the crust turn out crisp, chewy and crunchy? Why the microwave? The science please! 

nbicomputers's picture
nbicomputers

the microwave cooks from the inside out. the heat and steam turns the starch in the flour to gelatin much like boiling a bagel

result a softer chewy texture  but it will increas the rate of staling 10 times so the product must be comsumed quickly since it will be very hard and inedable in minutes,

trhoma6432's picture
trhoma6432

That pretty much answers it. Thanks much because it had me puzzled. Now, how do I get that result in my oven? Got an electric convection oven to work with but my crumb always turns out crumbly and by the second day I can't even stand to eat it almost despite how good the loaf looks.

nbicomputers's picture
nbicomputers

the crumbly crumb could be caused by under developed gluten or not enough gluten in the flour it also could be the dough is "to short" to much oil or shortening making for a tender cookie like texture.

post the formula and how you mix it with times and handeling method and i will take a closer look