50% Whole Wheat Ciabatta

If whole wheat bread tastes this good, I would eat more of it. I find this 50% whole wheat ciabatta entirely satisfying—as a nutritious bread and as a challenge for a bread baker. Clearly, there are obstacles to overcome when you pack high percentage of whole grains in any bread. The wheaty taste can be assertive. The crumb structure tends to be unpleasantly dense. Through FreshLoaf, a site for the community of artisan bread bakers, I am able to find a remarkable solution from a fellow baker Joze.

The methodology calls for a long autolyse and an extended bulk fermentation while the dough spends 12-24 hours in the fridge. After the lengthy bulk fermentation, the dough is billowy and filled with air bubbles. At the same time, the dough is very slack and almost impossible to shape into a boule or a bâtard. To get around that, the dough is shaped like a ciabatta, which means minimal manipulation and shaping. As a result, the dough retains the precious air bubbles and the finished loaf blooms with big holes and open crumb.

Just like anything else in life: practice makes perfect. Anyhow, I’m stoked about this recipe, which is giving me a new set of tools to open up the dense crumb typically associated with breads with more than 50% in whole grains.

It all makes sense. Autolyse (flour and water are mixed together and rest before mixing the final dough) has a favorable impact on the loaf volume. The bran (component part of the wheat kernel) has an opportunity to absorb more dough water during the rest period. There is less of a cutting action on the gluten strands and improves the dough’s extensibility. Meanwhile, after a long autolyse, the gluten bonds and the dough develops quickly. The final dough feels nice and easy and requires less mixing time. A looser dough tends to ferment better and has better volume.

Extended cold fermentation is nothing new when it comes to pizza dough, although less so in bread baking. In general, pizza dough is light and stretchable enough you can spin it repeatedly in the air until it’s thin enough to pass the windowpane test without tearing. Voila! Employ the same technique of extended cold fermentation like the pizza dough, you get a lightened crumb texture. This is a very effective way to get the desirable open crumb structure in any loaf, not only in whole wheat breads.

This is a breakthrough bake for me. The last time I made 50% whole wheat bread, this is how it looked. Not bad, but it’s underperforming its best possibilities. As a baker, I always look for ways to sharpen my skills. That moves me forward in this craft.

“How to become a good friend to good bread?… Experiment, play, realize that failure isn’t really failure, it’s an edible part of your evolution as a baker.” — Jeffrey Hamelman

Key ingredients: 50% whole wheat and 50% bread flour

Amazingly open crumb structure