Comments on: Ciabatta

By: Peter M

Peter M — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 06:58:00 +0000

Pjh, I’m indebted to your input on my attempt at Ciabatta and I must ince again say that the taste of the bread was adored by all in the family. The outer crust is where improvement is needed and your suggestions make sense and will be applied.

Personally, I think Ciabatta is the “King” of breads and I’ll show why…real soon!

By: PJH

PJH — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:04:00 +0000

Peter, the interior of your ciabatta looks just right, I’d say – full of holes. If you’re worried about the outside, I notice the dough – both in the bowl, and in loaf form, risen – looks very dry. Dry dough forms a skin, and this prevents it from rising as high as it might, and also from developing the nicest looking crust. If you aren’t already, be sure to keep your dough covered as it rises in the bowl – plastic wrap is best – and then cover it as it rises after being shaped into loaves, too. I like to put a big clear plastic cover over it as it rises – like, something you’d get were you to order a big takeout tray of desserts or hors d’oeuvres from the supermarket. Barring that, you can use plastic wrap, but grease it VERY heavily with pan spray or olive oil. Remember, the secret to the best ciabatta is a very wet dough; and a very “risen” dough. When ready to go into the oven, it should jiggle like Jell-O! It’s hard at first to know exactly when it’s perfectly risen vs. when it’s overly risen, but practice makes perfect, and the experiments are all yummy. (Glad you like the recipe – I work in the kitchen at King Arthur, and I’m the one who developed it!) – Cheers – PJH

By: Laurie Constantino

Laurie Constantino — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:59:00 +0000

Peter your bread looks gorgeous to me. For baking, here's what I think helps:
1. Baking stone, and like Nicole says it needs to go in the oven way early so it is completely heated through. I generally preheat the oven and stone to 475 or 500 and then turn the heat down when I put the bread in.
2. I don't like using convection for baking bread. I can never get a good crust when I do.
3. Steam. I have a baking sheet with edges that I put in the oven along with the baking stone on a rack just below the stone. When I put the bread in, I have a cup of water ready, and put it on the baking sheet just before I close the door. (Before I got smart and started using the baking sheet, I used to throw it on the bottom of the oven but, well, badly warped the bottom of that oven. Not a good idea.)
4. Bake hot - say 425 - for the first 15 or 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to 325.
5. If you haven't seen it, there is a book called The Italian Baker by Carol Field that I think is one of the best around for advice on making rustic breads.

Despite all the advice, I really do think your bread looks great.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:14:00 +0000

Ciabatta is my favorite bread to use for sandwiches. Crispy on the outside and soft chewy on the inside. I have yet to try making it myself though. I need to start doing more baking.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:32:00 +0000

Peter: Yes, get a baking stone. Yes, get an oven thermometer. When you have the stone in the oven, you need to start preheating much earlier than normal. I usually turn the oven on 45 minutes before I bake, depending on what temp I need it to get to. To get a bakery style crust, you have to use steam. Bakery ovens are steam injected, unfortunately or home ovens are not! You can create steam in a few different ways, I'll e-mail you more info if you want. Read this in the meantime :-)

By the way, I think your bread looks great! I bake lots of bread, but have never made ciabatta! I don't know why, it's one of my favorites. My sister just requested that I make some yesterday so maybe I'll be posting my own soon!