Sourdough Ciabatta
ok. i've been making ciabatta using instant yeast for some time with great success. this is my first attempt at making a sourdough version. i order some sourdough starter culture (dried) from breadtopia and have been growing the starter for about 4 days. I looks lively and just about ready to use. i want to check on here for my formula to see if i you guys think my dough is going to be too sour.
my regular ciabatta recipe is straight forward : 24 oz poolish 100% hydration ap flour with a pinch of SAF red yeast, overnight in fridge, take out next morning to come to room temp. then 12 oz ap flour with 2 tsp SAF red and 2 tsp salt and ~6 oz water (75% hydration in total). mix, rest, 3x stretch and fold at 30 min intervals in plastic tub coated with olive oil. divide, shape and roll in flour to coat. tapped down and stretched then into grill top stone oven (BakerStone) for about 8 mins each at ~650F. squirt bottle water sprays on the top and side stones before going in and again right after for steam. comes out beautiful.
so for my sourdough version... can i just replace the entire 24 oz poolish with the sourdough starter? or is that too much? i was also going to do it as a hybrid version, keeping the 2 tsp SAF red in the final dough. i'm using the same ap flour for my sourdough starter. no whole grains in this round.
the sourdough starter looks similar in consistency and 'bubbliness' as my regular poolish. has a good strong acid smell.
Thanks in advance. Any comments, suggestions welcomed.
Jim
just about every recipe works when it comes to SD
Happy Baking
I am not sure your starter is mature enough yet. Do a float test to be sure. I personally think adding any yeast into a sourdough recipe is not a good idea.There is competition for resources and there really is no need.
Thanks for the feedback and comments so far. Not familiar with the float test. how's that done? my start was made with some dried starter i bought and not from natural starter in the air, so i am thinking that i dont need the multiple weeks of growth for it to mature. right? if terms of activity, it is very active, i feed it and stir it down and it will double at room temperature in 4 hours. since it is 100% hydration and acidic, it doesnt really go about 2x volume. the gluten development seems to break down. i was reading that an overly ripe start will smell more vinegary (acetic acid) vs a starting-to-mature starter should be more creamy (lactic acid). i think i smell vinegar. I just fed it and stuck it in the fridge and it's now about 2 lbs. was planning to use it tomorrow. cutting down on the starter as dabrownman suggested. maybe a 20% starter 50% flour 50% water levain and then incorporate that into final dough with equal amount of flour with final hydration around 70-75%. i'll see how the levain proofs. if it's doing the job well, maybe i will skip the yeast. I want to go for more character and flavor in my ciabatta rather than a true sourdough. that's why i thought maybe use a hybrid starter/yeast formula. I think some member here suggested that is an option. i'm willing to try anything and everything to learn. more thoughts or comments always welcomed. Thanks!
Did the float test last night and it definitely floats. lots of tiny bubbles in there and while not as light and airy as the yeast poolish, it's definitely very active. i think the difference i see between this starter and the yeast poolish is that there seems to be more gluten development from the yeast poolish so the air bubbles are not escaping.
a poolish preferment. Wild things in SD aren't selected and hybridized for speed and vigor but for their tolerance of living together in an acid environment. That is why SD takes much longer than commercial yeasted breads. It is just the way it is.
Happy SD baking
Well, here's my first attempt at sourdough.. well at least hybrid sourdough. I used the 20-50-50 i mentioned above for the sourdough levain (6 hrs at room temp) and then for the final dough i did my usual 2 tsp SAF red. The final dough felt stickier than with the yeast poolish version. But really the poolish and the SD starter felt very similar. So in terms of stretch and fold, and shaping felt almost exactly the same. The outcome in was also very similar to my yeast version, except with a very mild sour taste that is somewhat refreshing, but did not add as much flavor as i expected. i will try a full sourdough one next time with no yeast added. i'm just not sure how a very wet ciabatta dough will handle a long fermentation. my guess is that timing will be essential to make sure it's not over ripe and too acidic.