🍞 THIS SATURDAY: Rustic Italian Ciabatta After babka week nearly broke the comment counter and marbling bread had everyone turning dough into art, we're going back to basics. Sort of. This Saturday we're baking a proper Rustic Italian Ciabatta. Lean dough, 80% hydration, built on an overnight poolish. No shaping. No scoring. Just a wet, bubbly dough that gets poured onto a floured counter, cut in half, and baked into two crackly-crusted slippers with the kind of open, honeycomb crumb that makes olive oil sing. Here's why this one matters: It teaches hydration confidence. If 80% hydration makes you nervous, this is exactly the dough you need to bake. You can't hurt it by treating it gently. You can only hurt it by over-handling. It teaches preferments. The poolish is 5 minutes of work Friday night and it does 80% of the flavor work while you sleep. Once you understand what a poolish does for ciabatta, you'll start using them in other breads too. It teaches minimal intervention. Every week we've been talking about building tension, scoring, shaping, stretching. Ciabatta is the counterpoint. Sometimes the best shaping is no shaping at all. Three paths to pick from: (check the toggle in the recipe) 🥖 Yeasted with Poolish (classic, beginner-friendly) 🌾 Sourdough with Levain (for my starter folks) 🧀 Inclusions welcome (olives, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary, whatever you've got) Recipe is in the Recipe Pantry now. Friday night we mix the poolish. Saturday morning we bake. https://skoo.ly/rustic-ciabatta I'll be in the kitchen and in the thread all day. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

🌅 Good Morning Bakers 🍞 It’s Marbled Loaf Saturday 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. 📸 Prep shots🌀 Lamination photos🔥 Dough going into the oven🍞 Crumb shots❓ “Is this right?” questions One thread. All day. We bake together. 📍 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗕𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘄 🥖 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 Your dough came out of the fridge cold this morning.Don’t rush it. Let it sit while the oven preheats. When it crowns about 1 inch above the pan, it’s ready. 👉 Watch the dough, not the clock. 🍞 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 You’re either:• Pulling from an overnight cold proof• Or mixing fresh this morning Both work. Look for:✔️ 50–75% rise✔️ Domed surface✔️ A light jiggle when shaken 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹. ⚠️ Before You Start 🌀 Cold dough = clean swirl Warm dough = blur. Work fast. 👐 Adding color will knock out some gas.That’s normal. → Knead 2–3 minutes per portion → Pre-shape into balls → Rest 15 minutes → Roll and laminate Don’t overthink it. 🎨 𝗚𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁. 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱. 👀 What I Want to See Today 📸 Your dough before lamination 🔥 Your loaf going into the oven 🍞 Your crumb shot after slicing Tag me when you post. I’m in here all day. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/?search=Marbled?𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵=𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲 🔥 Let’s go. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Come bake with us. Henry ⭐🔥

A lot of you came from Facebook. I run Baking Great Bread at Home over there, 40,000+ members, and I love that community. But I want to be honest about something. On Facebook, you often get one of two things: criticism without substance or compliments without critique. Someone posts a loaf and the comments are either "Beautiful!" when there's clearly something going on, or unhelpful jabs that don't teach you anything. People mean well. They're trying to be kind. But kindness without honesty doesn't make you a better baker. This is a different place. Crust & Crumb Academy is exactly that: an academy. This is where you come to hone your skills and get better. That means when you ask for feedback, you're going to get it. Real feedback. Specific feedback. The kind that actually helps you improve. I'll always be kind. I'll always be encouraging. But you're not going to get empty platitudes from me. If I see something in your crumb, your shaping, your scoring, I'm going to tell you what it is and how to fix it. That's what coaches do. And I want you to do the same for each other. When someone posts a bake and asks for critique, give them something useful. Tell them what you see. Ask questions. Share what's worked for you. That's how we all get better. This is a teaching environment. We're not here to collect compliments. We're here to make better bakers. Perfection is not required. But growth is the goal. Let's get to work. ~Henry