Poolish Experiment #1

Poolish Loaf

B decided to do a weekend experiment with a poolish ciabatta, an Italian rustic loaf. Although it didn't turn out the way he wanted, I see more poolish bread in our future.

He started the "sponge" on Friday, but the recipe he'd been following was off (a mix-up in metric to imperial conversions), and it didn't rise properly.  He fixed it by readjusting the water and we (sigh) waited another 12 hours for it to rise.

Waiting, waiting

By Sunday evening, it was ready to go in the oven.

It came out late Sunday night, after I'd gone to bed. But the promise of poolish bread for breakfast helped me get out of bed at an ungodly hour for my 7am flight. I was a little disappointed when I saw it sitting on the counter. It was certainly "rustic," but our oven (which loves to char things), had done what it does best. However when I sliced it, I was pleasantly surprised.  It looked delicious on the inside.

Unfortunately, with the picture snapping for the blog and my lack of coffee, I forgot to actually take a slice with me.  That might've been for the best, though.  Even though it looked nice on the inside, it's not B's typical type of bread (where, all you need is a knife and a little privacy, and you could theoretically and easily slice and eat your way through the whole thing in one sitting). This bread wasn't much on its own, but when paired with a little salt and olive oil, wow! (Which is exactly how I enjoyed it when I got home on Tuesday.)

A little black on the outside

Perfect on the inside

I'm eagerly awaiting poolish experiment #2.