Hi guys!
I'm from Italy and in the last few months i've been really into bread. I'm starting to get good enough results, but i have a problem with Hamelman's ciabatta: i'm unable to obtain those big charateristic holes. Flavour and consistency are good, i have a decent oven spring... but my crumb isn't what it should be.
What's the secret of those big holes?
Thank you!
edit: my biggest holes are on the very top of the ciabatta, so when i cook it they become a very thin and burned crust...
You might try less mixing. Hammelman calls for a total of about 7 minutes, but I think their mixers run pretty slow. I tend to mix most doughs for just a minute or two, and then rely on folding.
If you're from Italy, the home of this bread perhaps a recipe from a maestro like Giorilli rather than an Americanised interpretation would be a better pursuit.
An example:
http://www.trattoriadamartina.com/2013/11/ciabatta-di-piergiorgio-giorilli-con-metodo-indiretto-e-biga-di-2024-ore/
EDIT:
Another: http://blog.giallozafferano.it/fablesucre/ciabatte-di-giorilli/
tgrayson,
After you mix, 1st rise, then on your bench to form the 'slippers', then after the 2nd rise, do you 'FLIP' the loafs upside-down onto your peel?????? Then into the oven in the oven?????
What that accomplishes is relocating the air pockets that rose to the top to be on the bottom of the loafs. Might explain the large blistered tops.
mwilson is correct in suggesting snorters mixes with a couple of S-N-Folds during the 1st rise.
Kanpai….
MrOneTwo… So sorry for posting incorrectly….. Hope you will read this.
I think you meant to address this comment to MrOneTwo, the original poster.
tgrayson,,,,
What can I say…. My wife tells me to 'slow-down' & 'a closed mouth gathers no foot'…. I should listen to that woman….but she only listens to me selectively!
Hey, a long time ago I checked out of the Airport Holiday Inn the morning that Elvis died…. should have bought a bunch of news papers… Love Memphis…… good people, food, ducks-in-the-lobby, and Blues….!
Kanpai…..
...and I think you meant tgrayson with regards to shorter mixing. Something I am certainly not recommending, in fact I recommend the opposite. If you need to "'flip' ciabatta then you've done it wrong! So many people think they know how to handle this dough but the truth is in the results...
Large holes at the top just under the crust means the dough hasn't received sufficient bulk fermentation.