The 18 hour ciabatta experiment

Before i start waxing lyrical about bread, let me give a warning, proceed only if you are really into/curious about baking and bread baking or just want to see how long Farhan can talk about this subject. (read: Mel this is going to bore you like crazy)

I had a 18 hour ciabatta experiment which I am glad to say was a success. Since it was 18 hours long, sad to say by the time the sandwich was assembled, it was 8 pm and too dark to bother taking any photos. This led to my mother in law commenting that it was took too much effort and time to bake bread.I think this was contributed by me recruiting her help in spritzing water into the oven while I ran an errand in the neighbourhood.

This led me thinking. Is it worthwhile to bake your own bread? Zhullie of ovenhaven had her first bread baking experiment and thoroughly enjoyed it. And I think for every bread baker (calling all bread bakers: please back me up here!) there is never anything more satisfying than making your own bread. In terms of time consumption, I must say this was the most time consuming. But the results were phenomenol if I may say so. It had the perfect crisp crust and those lovely holes that ciabatta has that I could never have achieved previously.

I think the main block when it comes to bread baking is timing and planning. Unlike cookies which mixed in a bowl and baked on the spot, bread takes TIME to rise. It also needs a lot of love, some breads more than others. This ciabatta was like a newborn baby, needing to be caressed every few hours, fed and turned. Pizza dough is fast and takes an hour max from dough to oven. Chapati when made well needs minimal rest, but can be left overnight to relax for better results. Pita bread takes a little more time due to the starter which takes 4-5 hours. And I have discovered this ciabatta takes the icing on the cake! Well now you may ask, What are the advantages of making your own bread?

-you get free baking bread smells around the whole house

-it costs almost nothing to bake your own bread

-you can flavour it however you wish: rosemary, sundried tomatoes, beautiful olives, roast garlic, caremalized onions. You could put anything in a roll to make it sweet or savoury like these cream cheese and walnut rolls

-you can shape it which ever way you want like these small kaiser rolls, perhaps a heart for your love?

-there aren’t any wierd preservatives, leaveners and additives in homemade bread. This also means it doesnt keep well. but I guess we all know it freezes well for up to a month well wrapped in the fridge

-the joy of holding your own handmade rolls, burger buns, pizza, flatbreads is something that can’t rival paying a few dollars at your neighbourhood bakery.

But you probably think I’m a little crazy making my own mayonaise, cutting my own tenderloin for a burger and eating only handcut fries which H is extremely good at, always mixing my own salad dressing and never using bottled. But I still seriously believe that you need to taste how good and wholesome great quality homemade stuff is and you’ll never turn back.

Just like Dorie’s carrot cake which motivated me to buy the book,

This definitely made me add the book shown at the top of the page into my collection. Its superb, Zhullie, another must buy!! The recipe for the ciabatta coming soon, I made a pan bagna: a traditional French ‘submarine’ sandwich. It can be filled with a variety of fillings, but instead of butter or margarine, the bread is ‘bathed’ in olive oil. Pan Bagna should be moist, so it may not the sort of thing you want to eat in polite company!Enjoy the photo from here with recipe.