"heavy" bread

Toast
MoonshineSG on 5 Jun 2016 at 00:56

although the crumb looks airy, it is quite "heavy" and gooey... 

it a "double hydration ciabatta" (http://www.breadcetera.com/?p=162)  that is supposed to be be light. 

can anyone figure out (I know it's little info) what could have gone wrong ? I've done this a few times with more or less same disastrous results... 

What was the internal temperature of the loaf when you removed it from the oven?  It should about 195°F.

Ford

To me the crust looks about right and the crumb maturity is pretty well-developed. My fallback would be an initial hot oven with steam, then crank the oven down to maybe 375 followed by continuous monitoring of the loaf's internal temperature. I am not a big fan of internal loaf temp measurements but this might be advantageous in your case.

Last Christmas I made kolach for the first time and the time/temp recommendations in the recipe were way off. I threw a few braided rings away before I finally succumbed to internal temperature monitoring. This was my final product for Christmas breakfast:

The crust appears dark, so I'm not inclined to think it underbaked. Plus, the bread is rather flat, so it likely baked quickly. BTW, underbaked doesn't mean you need to increase the temperature, just increase the time.

Maybe overproofed?

IMO, the double hydration appears unnecessarily complicated. While the ciabatta on the website is nice, it's not beyond the range of what you can achieve with ordinary technique.

I suspect heat, not enough of it, under the loaf, during the bake.   Show us please your loaf bottom.  What is your oven set up?  :)

i said it's "heavy", that doesn't mean there's anything left :D 

But, yes, the bottom was "white" (and not from flour). My setup is baking stone with cast iron pan for steam. 

I strongly suspect an oven problem. I will have to check if the temperature really reaches that on the dial... 

 

 

the stone longer.   If the stone is too big it can interfere with the oven thermostat.  Make sure there is at least an inch or 3cm all around the stone.   

Depending on your stone and oven, it can take a fair amount of time for your stone to reach the temp your oven is at. 

One thing you might be able to try is placing your stone lower in the oven. Assuming you have a bottom element, that would put your stone a bit closer to its main heat source.