January 31, 2013 - 1:50pm
Help
hi everyone,
I am new to this site. I'm also quite a novice baker. I need some advice!
I recently received crust and crumb by Reinhart. I tried out the ciabatt - it didn't turn out as I had hoped. It didn't proof very well and as a result, it looks rather flat. I used wheaten flour (Integrale - I live in Italy and not sure what is the equivalent to unbleached bread flour) and fresh yeast (it was over a week in the fridge). I have tried several times using active dried yeast but I never had any success.
I am interested in sourdough bread - any tips? Should I try or practice more using fresh yeast?
Hope to hear from someone soon
Emma
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For information on flour in Italy - http://www.cooksinfo.com/italian-flours
Farina integrale is whole wheat flour as I understand it, particularly given the ash content listed in the link regarding Italian flours. It will not perform as well in ciabatta and will not rise as much in any recipe unless given special treatment as in Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book where he uses soakers and bigas to compensate and fully hydrate the additional bran that is in whole wheat flour.
The flour you want for white breads will probably be a hard wheat (grano duro), probably a typo 1 (coarser than type 0 but not as coarse as type 2). Also if making bread, you may want to mix the type 1 with another flour with a higher gluten content - Farine Manitoba is Canadian flour in Italy that would 'beef up' the protein content of the Italian flour and make a better flour for bread.
Happy Baking
Linda
thanks for your tips - Il try again to make another loaf. Although this time, I'd like to try the 100 percent wholewheat loaf - fingers crossed.
happy baking to you too
emma