Bread

Hello,

       My  name is Patrick and I've recently become obsessed with bread. I bake bread and do desserts at a small restaurant in Baltimore. Right now I do a ciabatta for cheese and charcuterie plates, as well as white bread for burger buns and sandwich loaves. The ciabatta bread I do with the delayed fermentation method that I read about in "The Bread Baker's Apprentice". It works out fantastically time wise. The last thing I do before I leave work for the day is mix the ciabatta dough for about 6 minutes on low speed using ice cold water. I put it in a container and then right into the fridge. The next morning I take it out of the fridge first thing and then let it warm up for a couple of hours until it  has completely doubled. Then I scrape it out of the container gently, let it rest for about half an hour,cut it out, and then bake. Depending on how often the refrigerator was opened during service that night, I can have ciabatta bread baked and cooling within 3 hours of arriving at work.

       I have recently established a rye starter and a wheat starter at work. I've been experimenting a little with them but have not had too much time or luck. They both froth up quite nicely within about 12 hours of feeding. The wheat starter seems a bit harsh. Anyone know why? The rye has a great appley cidery vinegary odor that is very pleasant to whiff. This seems like a great forum and I hope I can learn some things, especially about sourdough, from everyone  here.

Patrick