john said:
>The only reliable way I know to obtain big air holes in bread is high
>hydration and intensive gluten development.
>
>My standard Ciabatta method, for example involves hydration of 80%+ (800
>grams water and 50 grams oil to 1 kilo of flour), an overnight poolish to
>raise acidity and help form strong gluten, a high speed mix and 4 stretch
>and fold cycles. The resultant dough is very soft but also very elastic.
>
>I'd be happy to expand on this cursory answer if your interest has been
>piqued.
yes, please john, expand
1. what is a poolish?
2. also, if you can design your response to fit someone who has neither a
mixer nor access to gluten, please do so
3. also, what exactly is a "stretch and fold cycle" ?
i found a ciabatti recipe ( www.sourdoughhome.com/ciabatta.html ) but it
calls for sourdough, into which i have not yet plunged my hands , so if
there is another way with regular yeast i appreciate a recipe. i found this
one very complicated, by the way...
thanks
mike in havana