Finally, a holey slipper worth posting

Going on a roll with failures, I wish to tell you about this challenging courtship. It was disaster 1st then slightly lukewarm before I got even a brief glance. But then the 'brief' moment could translate to a possible chance right???

I’ve had sleepless nights pondering whether it was meant to be….or perhaps not? I mean, how many times would you try and keep trying and keep going, despite the 'cold shoulder' before calling it quits?

I was still determined and probably tipped into an insane obsession!! Ha ha...I could have probably passed as a 'stalker'!!

I couldn’t understand why this above the others? Was it because with the others, they were or became too easy? Had I finally met my match? For a while, I thought so too.

But I didn’t give up, so after 6 attempts in total so far in less than 2 months, despite disappointments, struggle and heartaches, finally, FINALLY large holes in my ciabatta (otherwise known as Italian slipper).

Here is the journey in transition:

1st: Was very flat, more like schnitzel, had large holes! Added too much water. It was quite tough, like a Croc in all sense of the word! *blush*

2nd: Using Bertinet's recipe, I ended up with 'fat' clogs as I was afraid to 'stretch' it. Got some holes but not airy enough. Wasn't satisfied.

3rd: This time, dared to stretch but ended up de-gassing it *darn*!
In my struggle, I knew that it was probably the stretching of the dough into a slipper that let me down. *heavy hands, can’t help it. I searched for tips on how to 'stretch' the dough properly and without U tube but just word instructions to 'stretch it' which probably resulted in me over stretching the dough in a few of my attempts, thus de-gassing it and well, the rest you can guess :(

4th: Stretch it a little but the hole crumbs were rather shy!



5th: Success finally, large airy holes found!! *skips for joy*
Actually I felt that I kind-na fiddled with the dough too much and was afraid it would be another trash feed but thankfully and surprisingly, it turned out well!

6th: To ensure the last try wasn't a once off 'fluke', I decided to have another go. Got airy holes but forgot to turn it over so large holes concentrated at the top. Still good enough for me. *ok, will be giving this bread & me a well earned rest now* :)

Yes, I can finally breadth a sigh, let go and move on. But not without thanking Lisa first for her useful tips and beautiful pictures. Without them, who knows, I could still be stuck in my clueless and very desperate rut? Ha ha

Here are my bench-notes for those who are interested:

• Compared to other bread mixture, this is a highly hydrated (aka ‘wet’) dough so best to use a scrapper to help fold the dough. Folding helps strengthen the structure to the delicate dough.
• No knocking-back with this bread after initial rest – just a few quick folds and rest.
• Do not be afraid to dust the table-top liberally with flour. Can’t be help since dough is rather ‘wet’.
• Oil container before putting in the dough to rest. If you forgot like I did in my 1st successful attempt, its ok it came together in the end.
• Treat it gently to avoid de-gassing.
• After the initial rest, I folded the dough gently on the counter and continued there with the 2nd and 3rd fold & rest (covered under a bowl or food cover) before transferring it to a parchment paper dusted liberally with semolina flour for the final proof.
• Don’t rush the resting period.
• Don’t fiddle with the dough for the 'perfect' look. Its meant to be a little rustic. If possible, try to fold it lengthwise or rectangular in shape.
• The bread dough will look a little flat before going into the oven. Don’t fret, it will ‘bloom’ in the oven!
• Very Important: Just before the final proof, flip the dough to the other side (i.e. top facing down) onto the semolina floured tray or parchment paper, slowly and gently stretching it a little using the scrapper for some back support (do not use rolling pin for this). Dimple all over the top of the dough gently using fingertips. Once in the oven, the dimples will disappear as the bread ‘puffs out’ aka oven spring’. Lisa shares that the “dimpling actually GIVES you more chewy, airy holes in your final loaf.” I think this make sense as the dough has been resting on one side for a while. Turning it over will ensure more equal distribution of large airy and open holes through out the bread instead of them being concentrated at the top.
  

It would have been great to follow the ciabatta recipe used by Lisa but since she only shared her tips, I used Jude's recipe instead.

Here is what I adapted which yields 1 loaf of ciabatta.

Dough Ingredients
60g Liquid levain (100% hydration)
150g All-purpose flour
50g Bread flour
140g Water
2 pinches of instant yeast
5g sea salt

Method, timing and baking as per Jude's blog.
Tips and handling, as per above bench notes.

Good luck!
May you always have lots of large holes in your slipper! :)

To celebrate, I'll be submitting this together with all the slipper-holes for yeast sporting hosted by Susan of WildYeast.