August 30, 2009 - 10:52pm
Stopping Ciabatta from spreading rather than rising after shaping
Hi All. I regularly make pane pugliese and am very happy with the crumb as well as height thanks to the use of bannetons. I also get a good crump when making ciabatta but becuase of the high water content it spreads and I do not get much height. Can anybody suggest how to fix this problem? My home made salami is craving to be eaten together with ciabbatta that is at least 5cm high!
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is it still a ciabatta? I don't think so.
Jeremy
On my typical ciabatta I get about 1 and 1/2 inches of height or just a bit under 4 cm. Or 40 mm. As an engineer working with equipment we always used mm for everything unless it got over a meter. Then we would express it a 1.440 meters.
Back to bread. I do use a strong flour for my ciabatta if I have it or if not KAF bread flour. 77 to 80 percent hydration. You have to let it proof -- almost to the point of over proofing. I proof on parchment paper and then slide the loaf on the paper on to a heavy sheet pan or baking stone.
For sandwiches I slice off a portion of the loaf and then slice it again in the form of a top and bottom. Kind of the way you slice a hamburger bun. Works for me. YMMV
Dave
How are you proofing your ciabatta? I proof mine in heavy canvas, and make sure the sides have good support. If you feel you are too liquidy, you can try decreasing the hydration a bit, or developing the gluten further. Do this by using a higher gluten flour, stretching and folding more, or using a higher percentage of fresh flour rather than pre-ferment.
Hope this helps.
Danny - Sour Flour
http://www.sourflour.org