The Fresh Loaf

News & Information for Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts

less chewy

Too chewy ciabatta caused by wet doughs?

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Hi there,

Yesterday I baked Mr. Hamelman's Ciabatta with poolish (and added sourdough starter). It turned out to be fine - nice crumb but only one problem: too chewy!

It was so chewy your teeth hurt a little bit if you tore off a piece. And I've been making high hydratation baguettes with the same flour with the same result: too chewy! So I wondered whether this is "usual" for very wet doughs, or I did something wrong?

Salt % reduction - pros? cons?

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Baking for Special Needs

I just realized the other day that a recipe I was fine-tuning to my liking was actually too salty for my taste (the sourness had masked this quite a bit). I reduced it from 2% TFW to 1.65% and felt the taste was better - I could go lower as we don't use much salt and I find I can taste it much more than other folk. The thing is, and I've done this twice now just to make sure, the dough was so much easier to handle & shape (which is great), but the crumb was much softer and less chewy (about which I feel less enthusiastic).