The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Ciabatta with biga

gavinc's picture
gavinc

Ciabatta with biga

I have never baked a ciabatta in all the years of baking. I wanted to take some nice bread to friends for late afternoon drinks that would pair nicely with cheese and selected wines. My usual bake for these events is baguettes with a poolish, but I wanted to try something. I went with Hamelman's ciabatta with biga which is a 73% hydration loaf.

The result was better than I was expecting, The crumb is not as open as some prefer, but I don't like the holes so large that the toppings fall through. I may experiment with upping the hydration a few points to test my nerve.

Cheers,

Gavin.

Comments

foodforthought's picture
foodforthought

The first recipe I used from this forum was Jason's Quick Croccodrillo Ciabatta at nearly 100% hydration. I just baked it again yesterday and highly recommend it. I like the version with semolina best.