First Ciabatta Attempt
Well I made my first ciabatta loaf and it turned out just okay. I got great browning, which I suspect came from the long 24 hour room temp bulk fermentation where it tripled in size, but I didn't get great oven spring and the bread was a bit gummy even after baking it to an internal temp of 209 degrees and allowing to cool completely before slicing.
The recipe I came up with used 500g KABF, 400 grams of water, 70 grams of Ischia starter, and around two teaspoons of salt. I almost just made this loaf by eye, but knew that if I was going to work with a higher hydration dough than I ever have that I better get everything a bit more precise. After shaping it I allowed it to proof for around 2 1/2 hours and slid it on my stone at 525 on the sheet of parchment that is proofed on.
Any tips on getting great oven spring though? I loved the color I got, but I will say that I suspect that it may have over fermented and that was why I didn't get great spring in the oven. I guess my yeasties were in the end of their useful like cycle. I also didn't get near as much rise during the 2 1/2 hour proof, and the dough wanted to spread really badly since it was 80% hydration so I propped the sides of the parchment up using two boxes of rice. I do not have a couche or I would've used that.
Maybe it was just my dough though and the kneading method, which was Bertinet's sweet dough technique that he lays forth in that internet video. It took around 5 mins for the dough to come together using that method, and after it had mostly came together it went through 3 SnF every 45 minutes before it was left alone to ferment. The level of gluten looks sufficient, but maybe it wasn't and that resulted in poor spring and spreading, although I thought long fermentation did a lot for gluten development with higher protein flours.
Do you think that the gumminess could have come from the long fermentation or possibly not baked long enough? I didn't time it and I usually dont/ I just keep an eye on the browning and take its temp when it looks right. I am pretty good at estimating when it is done.
By the way, the flavor was very sour which I like very much in a naturally risen bread. I like to know that I'm not eating a bread made from commercial yeast. Here is a picture of the finished loaf.