Ciabatta: Testing The Limits
Feels good to finally bake again. I took a 6 year hiatus and lost a lot of my skills in the process. I slowly got back into it in 2020, but it wasn't until a month ago that I set myself up to bake a lot more going forward.
One of my goals was to finally delve more into Ciabatta. One of my favourites when done correctly. I used to be known more for my sourdoughs, multi-grains, rye breads...and less for my all white bread flour loaves. Last week I took my first stab at a ciabatta. I didn't push the hydration too high as I wanted to test what my flour could handle, and what I could handle! The results were very good but I realized I could push the hydration more to achieve that custardy/wet mouth feel I love so much in a ciabatta. Josh Berger, who used to help me a lot back in the day here on TFL, continues to help me via Instagram from time to time. The advice he gave me to get from my first bake last week (first 3 photos) to today's (last 5 photos) helped a great deal and I believe I have found my ultimate Ciabatta formula. A lot of happiness going on over here!
Last week's loaves - hydration 80%
And today's loaves with increased hydration to 85%