Ciabatta bread - this one worked out really well, fast and easy

[melloladies]

Interesting thread! From my understanding- "bread bubbles" are larger in a dough with higher hydration- so the slacker the dough, the more bubbles... King Arthur Flour has a great video on how to handle high hydration doughs by hand- no mixer required

It's a labor of love,and it sure feels awkward the first (few) times, but I love that kinda stuff

 

[mylittlechickpea]

Melloladies, Thanks I'll have to find it. And definately give it a try.

Otherwise I guess it'll be another bread making day with friends who have mixers

Adoptedbyachicken, I totally remembered I have an old school sunbeam stand mixer, How could I ever forget

I haven't used it for anything yet, so I'm not actually sure it works... It came from goodwill, and i guess this bread will be it's test. If it breaks at least it still looks neat..

It looks like it's from the seventies, and all shiny and chrome-y. I feel so silly now..

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Hey give it a go, and take a picture! I wish I could have got an old one, one of my friends found one at a used store and has been baking bread with it since, not a hitch!

Good luck with it.

I know the handeling of wet doughs video you speak of melloladies and it is sort of helpful in how to deal with this stuff after the rise, but it will not get this mixed. The beating of this is unreal, top speed on the mixer for at least 15 minutes, I would never have thought anything should go that long. Then after that you treat it like a delicate flower or you loose bubbles. Real paradox.

 

[mylittlechickpea]

Well it mixed it... And then the dough became too much for the poor machine and pulled the hooks out the holes! Dang, that's one strong sticky dough. So even though I don't think I got the full mixin' in, I just let it at that, and placed it in the oiled bowl. It was balling up before I placed it in the bowl.. I hope it will come out okay.

 

[al6517]

The premise behind the intense mixing method is to form the Gluten cells which will ulitmately determine the breads structure. A kitchen aid is really a wonder machine for this and mixes better than any hand kneading could ever do. Now I know why my Granma had arem's like a truck driver LOL.

AL

 

[melloladies]

Ok- dernit! It looks like I'm trying this recipe tomorrow. I can't stand it anymore!!! Mmmm... fresh bread...I'm already drooling

 

[Carolyn]

You all make this look so good. Thanks for all the pointers. I have been wanting to try the ciabatta recipe in my sour dough book (same procedure with mixer) but haven't gotten my nerve up. Now if I can just get over my comedy of errors from using my pizza peel for the first time last night I am going to try it. Thanks for the interactive posting; you make a good team.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Quote:
Oh for sure. All the structure it has is gotten in the one go, rather than getting kneaded the second time. Just that it really has only a bit of structure still and has to be handled accordingly. If it had any more structure we would be unhappy with the results while eating it though, in all it's still a tender bread to eat. Hope that makes sense to those joining us, the fine art of balancing structure of gluten to get the crumb you want without loosening some teeth while eating it. THe right structure for the type of bread was one of the harder judgments for me in diversifying my bread making abilities.

 

[Leah and peeps]

Looks good! I will need to try this today!

 

[Leah and peeps]

We have now just reached the "wet" stage and are resting for 10 minutes. I hope i can do this right

ETA: Rising in the oven