Weekend Recap: Saturday Ciabatta Bake & Exciting Community Update!

Henry Hunter

10h (edited) • Announcements

Saturday’s Ciabatta Bake-Along: 269 Comments, Zero Gatekeeping

Yesterday we did something different.

We all baked the same bread, at the same time, in the same thread. No “post when you’re done. ”No “see you next week.”

Just real-time problem-solving, flour everywhere, and a comment thread that hit 269 replies.

THE BREAD

Quick Ciabatta. The 2-hour version.

No overnight poolish. No three-day ferment.

Just flour, water, yeast, and a willingness to trust wet dough.

Recipe:https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/quick-ciabatta

WHO SHOWED UP

@Linda Glantz made smaller portions and nailed the silky dough texture.

@Dave Whitney was first out of the oven with a heart-shaped ciabatta that made @Ann Snow’s day.

@Debbie Piette said she’d never participated in something like this and loved every minute.

@Candi Brown-McGriff fought through the flour dust and pulled off a beautiful open crumb.

@Tracy Havlik went rogue with jalapeños and sharp cheddar.

@Donna Angelo brought out her fancy couche and delivered bakery-quality results.

@Jen Dolan’s crumb shot made everyone stop scrolling.

@Sania Nicoson baked twice, once on Friday and once on Saturday, pushing for that perfect crumb.

@Beth Erickson asked every question she had, which is exactly what that thread was for.

@Angela Sides-McKay turned a pillowcase into a couche because “I don’t have the right equipment” wasn’t going to stop her.

And @Ann Snow couldn’t bake with us because she was traveling, but she stayed in the thread cheering everyone on anyway.

WHAT WE LEARNED

Wet hands for sticky dough. Every single time. This is the ciabatta mantra. Water creates a barrier. Stop fighting the dough and work with it.

Flour is your insurance policy. When @Dave Whitney said, “When Henry says a lot of flour, he means A LOT of flour,” he wasn’t exaggerating. Ciabatta will stick if you’re shy with flour.

Speed isn’t the enemy. This bread went from bowl to table in under two hours. The crumb shots proved you don’t need a 72-hour timeline. The bread doesn’t know how long it took.

Equipment doesn’t stop you. Pillowcases. Homemade couches. Sheet pans. You don’t need fancy tools to make great bread.

THE CHALLENGES

Sticky dough. Everyone wrestled with it. The fix was wet hands, bench scrapers, and trust.

Transfer from Couche to oven. "How do you get it from the pillowcase onto parchment? "Two bench scrapers. Push in from both ends. Lift. Let go.

Knowing when it’s proofed. We talked jiggle test. Poke test. Tiny surface bubbles.

Baking temperature and color. Sania's loaf hit 200°F but stayed pale. The fix? Let it go darker. Reheating crisps it even more.

HOW WE OVERCAME THEM

Real-time coaching. I stayed in that thread from morning until after midnight. Every question got answered.

Community support. Members encouraged each other nonstop. That’s the culture we’re building here.

THE MOMENT THAT MATTERED

@Debbie Piette said:

“Thank you for today. I have never participated in something like this and I loved it.”

That’s why we do this. Not just for great bread, though we had plenty. For baking together. For confidence. For not feeling alone when the dough feels wrong.

WHAT’S NEXT

Next group bake: Week 4, Sandwich Loaf Happening in 5 days.

Keep posting your bakes. Keep asking questions. Keep showing up.

If you missed Saturday’s bake-along, the thread is still there. All 269 comments. Every photo. Every win.

Go read it. Learn from it. Then bake your own ciabatta and tell us how it went.

Henry

P.S. @Dave Whitney, your heart-shaped ciabatta wins Most Wholesome Bread of the Week. @Ann Snow called it amazing, and she was right.

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