On 16 Apr 2005 02:30:25 -0700, "Her Subj." >
wrote:

>I recently purchased "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart
>and wanted to start off with the "formula" for ciabatta. I made a
>poolish culture on Wednesday morning and used it tonight (Friday
>night). I don't have a stand-up mixer (yet), so the dough was initially
>hard to work with but I eventually was able to get a handle on it. It
>rose beautifully and I prepared and baked it according to Reinhart's
>instructions what with the simulation of steam in a conventional oven
>and all that. The problem with my ciabatta was that a) it was very,
>very cracker-like (none of those wondrous holes associated with
>traditional ciabattas), and there was ABSOLUTELY NO TASTE! It pretty
>much tasted like flour and water, even with my two-day old poolish
>culture.
>
>I am not sure what the problem is --I don't have a thermometer, so I
>took it out of the oven at the suggest 20 minutes and it was all cooked
>inside, however, the outside was not completely "brown" as described by
>the author. More like a dark tan.
>
>I feel discouraged to try this again, and I would like any tips if they
>are available. I know how to figure for the right texture next time
>(more water!), but I am concerned about this lack of flavour. I do well
>making enriched bread and the like, but am really earnestly looking to
>make bread with the simple ingredients of flour, salt and yeast.


May I recommend posting this to alt.bread.recipes? Many of the
experienced "lean dough" bakers there also read this group, but
Reinhart and his recipes are discussed there often. You can also try
google groups to see past posts and perhaps find something specific to
this recipe that might help.

I did made this ciabatta recipe a couple of times and was not
interested enough in the results to try to tweak it to perfect it for
my own use, but I am sure there are some who can help your further.
You might also want to try the recipe again, just to make sure
something did not go awry (bread pun - they are hard to resist) by
accident the one time you made it.

If you have any interest in sourdough, rec.food,sourdough is another
groups you might be interested in reading.

Boron