Saturday’s Ciabatta Bake-Along: 269 Comments, Zero Gatekeeping Yesterday we did something different. We all baked the same bread, at the same time, in the same thread. No “post when you’re done. ”No “see you next week.” Just real-time problem-solving, flour everywhere, and a comment thread that hit 269 replies. THE BREAD Quick Ciabatta. The 2-hour version. No overnight poolish. No three-day ferment. Just flour, water, yeast, and a willingness to trust wet dough. Recipe:https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/quick-ciabatta WHO SHOWED UP @Linda Glantz made smaller portions and nailed the silky dough texture. @Dave Whitney was first out of the oven with a heart-shaped ciabatta that made @Ann Snow’s day. @Debbie Piette said she’d never participated in something like this and loved every minute. @Candi Brown-McGriff fought through the flour dust and pulled off a beautiful open crumb. @Tracy Havlik went rogue with jalapeños and sharp cheddar. @Donna Angelo brought out her fancy couche and delivered bakery-quality results. @Jen Dolan’s crumb shot made everyone stop scrolling. @Sania Nicoson baked twice, once on Friday and once on Saturday, pushing for that perfect crumb. @Beth Erickson asked every question she had, which is exactly what that thread was for. @Angela Sides-McKay turned a pillowcase into a couche because “I don’t have the right equipment” wasn’t going to stop her. And @Ann Snow couldn’t bake with us because she was traveling, but she stayed in the thread cheering everyone on anyway. WHAT WE LEARNED Wet hands for sticky dough. Every single time. This is the ciabatta mantra. Water creates a barrier. Stop fighting the dough and work with it. Flour is your insurance policy. When @Dave Whitney said, “When Henry says a lot of flour, he means A LOT of flour,” he wasn’t exaggerating. Ciabatta will stick if you’re shy with flour. Speed isn’t the enemy. This bread went from bowl to table in under two hours. The crumb shots proved you don’t need a 72-hour timeline. The bread doesn’t know how long it took.

You’ve had a jar of instant yeast in the fridge for a little while… and you want to bake. How do you know if it’s still active? Here’s the answer….. To check if instant yeast is still good, perform a quick "proofing" test: mix 1 teaspoon of yeast with 1 tablespoon of warm water (around 100°F) and a pinch of sugar; if it becomes foamy, bubbly, and forms a dome within 5-10 minutes, it's active and good to use, but if nothing happens, the yeast is dead and should be tossed.

Good morning, bakers. Today’s Ciabatta Bake is happening, and I just posted the recipe above. If you’re baking along and run into questions, weird dough behavior, timing issues, or just want a second set of eyes, leave it right here in this thread. Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/quick-ciabatta?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share This will be our working chat for the day so everyone can see the questions and the fixes in real time. I’ll be checking in all day. If it makes sense later, I may pop open a short live, but for now this is home base. Let’s bake.

Quick check-in. Where are you at for tomorrow's bake? Drop a comment if you have questions before tomorrow. I'll be here all day to walk you through it.

Thinking both were over kneaded in my Ankarsrum mixer...taste was decent, outside appearance looked good, crumb not where I was hoping. The First Sourdough came from the Classroom in the first 1-2 lessons. The Ciabatta was recipe scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday)