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Submitted by cxg331 on August 31, 2010 - 1:01pm Novice baker question about Ciabatta rising during bakingHello everyone. I have what is likely a very novice question for you all... I've been attempting to bake Ciabatta bread from a recipe in the latest Williams-Sonoma Baking cookbook. Everything goes well, except the bread doesn't do its last rise while baking. What I mean by that is the top is crusty and perfectly done, but the bottoms of the loaves look like and feel like the bottom of a cookie (soft and porous), instead of also being crusty. Everything else in the recipe goes according to plan, and the bread intself tastes ok. But the soft and porous bottom throws it all off for me. To add, I do use a baking stone (pizza stone) purchased from Williams-Sonoma, and I cook the bread on heavy baking sheets, lined with tin foil, placed directly on top of the baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven. I'd like to discover what I'm doing incorrectly, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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A place to start...
I'd say, first ditch the baking sheet, it negates most of the benefits of the stone. If the dough is too sticky to transfer without being on something try a sheet of parchment paper (there are lots of other things you can put under sticky dough, but parchment is a no-brainer). Slide the loaf and the paper off the baking sheet directly onto the stone. And make sure the stone is thoroughly preheated, 45-60min. If that doesn't help try lowering the oven temp a bit.
Marcus
I agree! Ditch the metal
I agree! Ditch the metal pans and foil! I like to put my ciabatta on a bakers peel (pizza peel) and slide them onto the hot stone. You can line your peel with parchment if you feel it would make it easier. Slide the whole thing on your stone. Also, like wassisname suggests.. let it preheat for a LONG time. You'd be surprised how different things would work out for you. I did Jason's ciabatta's here just the other day and decided to divide them into two loaves instead of the usual three. Well, my stone would have been too crowded with two loaves at once, so I did one at a time. My second loaf was quite a bit darker than the first.. I was in a hurry and didn't let my oven preheat long enough, obviously.
I'll try doing it on
I'll try doing it on parchment. The bread is definitely too sticky to go directly on the stone. The recipe calls for a heavy baking sheet and foil, but I'll throw that out the window and see what happens.
Ditto
Parchment is fine, but between the baking sheet and foil you'd never get a good bottom crust.
Larry
I found that out last week!
I recently made ciabatta pizza on parchment, but on stainless baking sheets. The top was way done, but he bottom was still gummy. My son liked it and it looked good on top. Now I will slide the parchment onto a stone preheated. I need one of those peels. Andrea
Andrea, I have one of these
Andrea, I have one of these great baking sheets with no rim. If you have something like that, it's fine to use as a peel. It's actually nicer than a peel as you have a bit more surface area.
Hi CXG, Just a
Hi CXG,
Just a question..........When your loaves are finished cooking are you removing your loaf off the hot cooking surface straight away and placing on a cooling rack to to avoid condensation under the loaf? Just a thought!!!
BelleAZ
Great idea. I think I will get one. Mine bakin sheets are the thick Aluminum from Reinhart Foods. Great for cookies, not so great for bread. The rimless would work great for in and out off the stone. Andrea
LOL
Mine bakin...
LOL, don't you hate it when
LOL, don't you hate it when that happens?
I like the large rimless baking sheets because they are big enough to actually hold two loaves of ciabatta without alot of dead on accuracy. I make Jason's ciabatta recipe here alot and maneuvering them on a bakers peel that's not so large is a challenge.
Let me know how it works for you!
cxg, I'd be interested in
cxg, I'd be interested in seeing you try this recipe here. It's a VERY wet dough, but once you get used to it, it's not hard to handle. HINT: I use two dough scrapers to plop this glop onto my parchment lined peel before sliding them into the oven.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2984/jasons-quick-coccodrillo-ciabatta-bread