Versachi's bread adventure's

[Versachi]

Well here are the pics from the baking I did in the last hour. I used the recipe's from the Bread Bakers Apprentice (thanks again Jim). I made Ciabatta with both a Biga and Poolish pre-ferments. In the pics I have the Biga's are on the right and the Poolish ciabatta's are on the left. I used a little tray with some water for steam and took it out for the last 10 minutes to get the crust I wanted. (To tell the truth I just wanted anything resembling a crust). They tasted fine but both seemed a little heavy eating them. The hole structure on the Poolish was a lot better than the Biga. Any thoughts and please don't hold back, I can take it.?

Check out the pic of the thermocouple reader. No no it's not Celcius! Can't wait until I post a pic of 0F or lower later on this year

Cheers, John

[sarah h]

They all look terrific! I can't wait till I can do that too!
And I've always preferred a dense and heavy bread to a light and airy one so they'd suit me just fine.

Sarah

[Dutchoven]

Versachi,
they really look good, good crust depth, nice volume, we have found the poolish version of the ciabatta to produce a more irregular crumb also...I believe it is due to slightly different hydration from the biga version, amazing how such similar things can behave and look so different. We use mostly the biga when we bake ciabatta
Nice job!
Dutch

[Bacterium]

Good work John....a couple slices of that and you would actually feel like you've eaten something...as opposed to supermarket bread (or fluff as I call it)

[Versachi]

Baked a little more Ciabatta last night with the poolish pre-ferment. I am having better luck mixing by hand and not using my KA mixer. The hole structure looks much better than my earlier versions. I wish I could bottle the smell that comes out of the oven when you open the door to let the steam out! So much fun, even at -20C!

Cheers, John

[CanuckJim]

John,

Way to go, my man. The first batch was good, the second much more better. It might be that your KA's friction factor means the first batch was somewhat overheated, hence the bit of density and close crumb. The hand kneaded batch shows that it wasn't overheated at all. Have a look at Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, pp. 382-85, for techniques to account for ingredient temperature and mixer friction.

Keep it up, yer on a roll.

Jim

[Dutchoven]

WOW...way to go is right...that looks great!!!...
Dutch

[oventhusiast]

Awesome breads! We'd all love to put out a product like that! Did you take oven temp readings during the bake? I have a funny feeling that my oven isn't saturated enough before I empty the coals. It seems to be cooling off quickly after I remove them. (It's insulated with a box of Insulfrax and more than nine full bags (6cu.ft.bags) of vermiculite! At least 6 of 7 inches all around.) I've only tried some so-called 'quick breads', but I'm having a problem with them rising or browning.
Rick

[Dutchoven]

Sounds like adequate insulation...better than mine...expound a bit on your method...I might be able to help
Dutch

Originally Posted by oventhusiast

Awesome breads! We'd all love to put out a product like that! Did you take oven temp readings during the bake? I have a funny feeling that my oven isn't saturated enough before I empty the coals. It seems to be cooling off quickly after I remove them. (It's insulated with a box of Insulfrax and more than nine full bags (6cu.ft.bags) of vermiculite! At least 6 of 7 inches all around.) I've only tried some so-called 'quick breads', but I'm having a problem with them rising or browning.
Rick

[Versachi]

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words. I am trying to use this forum as a guide to lead me to better bread.

Rick, I have been trying to get my oven to even out at about 500F I don't usually have my bricks soaked enough on the floor to get 500F two inches down but it is usually within a 100F. If you are unhappy with your bread it might be an idea to take a picture a crossection of one of them. The experts here might be able to tell more from looking at the inside than the outside.

Cheers, John