Coffee Sourdough Boule and SD No Knead Ciabatta

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hello bread lovers!

this week, i finally got around to trying out a SD No-Knead Ciabatta recipe and was quite happy with the way it turned out. although i think i could improve on a higher baking temp the next round, i did not bake it covered, just the usual baking pan with a pan of boiling water at the bottom rack.

425 g bread flour 

2 cups water

30g starter

1.5 tsp salt

16 hrs bulk ferment, and one hour final rise. 250 celcius for 35 mins.

 

my second experiment for the week was to replace 80% of the water in my standard sourdough boule recipe with a special Malaysian coffee brew for a coffee-flavoured bread. the taste of coffee is strong and aromatic in the bread - may not appeal to everyone but I do love it very much! the coffee beans were roasted with margarine and sugar to give it the distinct Asian brew taste.

 

How did you come by that ciabatta formula? Even for ciabatta, seems awfully wet.

Just curious. Thanks.

Both the ciabatta and the coffee bread look great. I'm getting ready to bake the Cherry Chocolate Espresso Sourdough that was discussed on TFL just before Christmas. I tried my hand at it then, and with all my mistakes, people still loved it. This time, I'm trying to be more prepared and get it right. One thing I'm doing that isn't even called for is that I've got a coffee sourdough culture going. I use strong coffee in place of water when feeding the starter. It has a wonderful smell. I may make some "plain" bread with it, just to see what the results are. Incidentally, I looked up what effect caffeine has on yeast, and found that it actually helps them live longer! If that is true, then my coffee sourdough starter should have more yeast in it than my plain starter, all other things being equal, making it stronger and better at raising bread.

What a brilliant idea David!! That is exactly what i am going to do in two hours ... A coffee sd culture! you bring it down to room temperature yes? do you make a fresh brew every feeding? 

The coffee boule went very well with butter and jam. Can't wait to see how yours go! 

Yes, I let the coffee get down to room temp. And I didn't brew it fresh for each feeding, because I figure that it's gonna be in the SD culture for a long time, anyway, and once brewed, the coffee doesn't go 'bad' for several days, although a bit stale for drinking. I did make it very strong. I used a coffee scoop that is probably around two tsp. or a Tbsp. I put one of those to each coffee 'cup' which are about 5 oz each, I believe. Then, I added one more scoop for good measure, and brewed it. Even the 'scoop' measures were rounded over, not level. I made 8 'cups' of coffee and used that same coffee for all of the feedings so far. I'm on day three, and I'm about to brew some fresh coffee to continue with. I've been keeping it at room temp, feeding as needed. It does seem to be a bit more active than my plain starter usually is, but that may be me.