Unbaked Flour
I have been baking this Ciabatta bread recipe (got it from this forum) for 2 years now and I would like to eliminate one problem.
After the first rise, I empty the dough on my floured counter, cut it into 4 loaves, spray them with oil, dust them with lots of flour and I let them proof for about 45 minutes. Then I bake them at 500 F.
All is fine so far but since the dough is very sticky, the flour at the bottom and top of the dough sticks to the dough and this flour is not baked even at 500 F. Worst, since the dough is also like a jello when I transfer it to my baking dish it folds in several places and within the folds I get the same unbaked flour.
When the baking is done, I scrape all loose flour but the flour trapped within the folds is impossible to remove. Is there any way to avoid having this unbaked flour?
Forgot to post some photos. You can see some of the process plus the unbaked flour on the crust and in photo 7 of 10 you can see the unbaked flour in the folds
http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll59/kolias/Baking%20Ciabatta/
All pictures of ciabatta loaves I have seen have flour on the loaves - as far as I know, it's supposed to be there:)
Stephan
Flour on a ciabatta isn't unusual. Sprinkling flour on top of the loaf prior to loading it into the oven is a common practice and, when the loaf comes out of the oven, the excess flour is usually brushed off using a bread brush - http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=bread+brush&oe=utf-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=10528886136135849586&sa=X&ei=pyrVTuy...
Try using less flour or eliminate the flour altogether and brush the loaf with olive oil - that's my preferred way to make ciabatta.
Thanks, will try next time to brush with olive oil