Sourdough Ciabatta

[Cuilidh]

This weekend DH is going to have a go at making sourdough ciabatta based on Yoke's recipe in her book.  He said he thinks it will be a very wet mixture and feels that, as it's a free form loaf, it will simply go 'splat' (my newest technical term) when he bakes it and we will end up with a very flat loaf instead of a more raised loaf.

We know ciabatta tends to be a flatter loaf anyway, but would like to hope for a bit of height.  Has anyone tried this loaf or have any suggestions on how to keep it from just spreading flat on the baking tray?

[cookie1]

Mine always seems to go lat too Marina. I hope he is successful as he can maybe share his secret.

[Cuilidh]

DH made the ciabatta today - it was, as he predicted, a very wet mix and horrible to work with.  Anyway, he was going to throw it in the bin but decided to put it in the oven, after all, it had two chances, it would either work or it wouldn't.  It turned out really nice - in fact, we just about ate the whole lot for dinner!  I don't know if he will make it again, but we were both really pleased with the end loaf. 

Just as an aside, he baked it in the bread tin so it didn't go splat!

[Cornish Cream]

Tasty bread is hard to resist Marina 

[cookie1]

That's good news Marina. Was the dough holey like a Ciabiatta?

[Cuilidh]

Yes, it was holey.  Perhaps not as holey as a white yeast commercially produced version, but definitely more holey than a standard sourdough loaf.

[cookie1]

Congratulations to your DH. He is a clever man.