# What to do with a failed ciabatta.



## noboundaries (Apr 28, 2021)

Thanks to Chef John's YouTube channel Food Wishes, I made ricotta cheese for the first time. His recipe gets you 14 oz of ricotta and 24 oz of whey for about $1.60. No great savings, but OMG, so much creamier and delicious than store-bought. Start to finish it takes about 15 minutes of hands on time and 45 minutes of thumb twiddling.

BUT! What the heck do you do with all that whey. My first thought-BAKE BREAD!

I found a whey-based ciabatta recipe online and gave it a shot even though my bread-baking instincts were screaming "Dude, this ain't gonna work." Still, I made it anywhey (insert eyeroll here). 

It looked decent, tasted great, but the crumb was tight like white sandwich bread.  Here's a pic of the ciabattas.








And here's how we used those tasty but not-ciabatta-like ciabattas.  Cut on a bias to increase the surface area, toasted, drizzled with EVOO and balsamic, smeared with ricotta, dressed with fresh basil and grape tomatoes, a little salt and pepper, then another drizzle of EVOO.  Yum, yum, yum. 






I've since made more ricotta and another ciabatta using a familiar recipe, but using whey and water instead of water alone. Still tweaking that recipe but it turned out a much better crumb. 

A few pics of the ricotta making process and Chef John' recipe. He has posted his recipe online. 

Drainage station.






Milk, cream, and salt heated to 195F, then 2 Tbs white vinegar added to create the curds. 






After a 6 minute rest, spooned into the cheesecloth-lined sieve. I had to change containers because my bowl was too shallow.






Everything ready to refrigerate.






Plenty of whey for the next bread baking adventure.

Thanks for looking!

Ray


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## chef jimmyj (Apr 28, 2021)

The dense Ciabatta would make good French Toast or Bread Pudding with Rum or Whiskey Sauce. 
Not Much can be done with the Whey..Sweet Whey from Rennet Cheese is good for Bread or making Ricotta. And Fermented Whey from making Yogurt, etc can be a Lacto-fermentation Starter for veggies like making Sauerkraut.
The Whey left from Ricotta is pretty much Spent, with no real nutritional value. CHICKENS love to drink any kind of Whey and when they grow up, your Whey would make a nice Brine!...JJ


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## noboundaries (Apr 28, 2021)

chef jimmyj said:


> The Whey left from Ricotta is pretty much Spent, with no real nutritional value.


That's good to know.  Just flavored water, then.

What about protein? The reason I ask is how the second ciabatta turned out using a recipe I've used before. It had an open crumb but was heavier and VERY moist compared to previous ciabattas I've done with the same recipe. I did switch bread flours from Bob's Red Mill to King Arthur, so there's that.


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## forktender (Apr 28, 2021)

Why anybody would buy ricotta is beyond me, it is so easy to make and it tastes 10X better than store bought.
Make a lasagna or some ravioli out of some you won't be sorry, actually it will blow you away. 

Everything looks fantastic.
Dan


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## noboundaries (Apr 28, 2021)

forktender said:


> Make a lasagna or some ravioli out of some you won't be sorry, actually it will blow you away.


Oh, yeah! I usually only make a couple lasagnas a year.  Might have to try making some fresh mozzarella, too. I've never done that, but it's on my bucket list.


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## forktender (Apr 28, 2021)

noboundaries said:


> Oh, yeah! I usually only make a couple lasagnas a year.  Might have to try making some fresh mozzarella, too. I've never done that, but it's on my bucket list.


I made Mozza. in a pizza coarse that I took in the Napa Valley the hard part is making or finding curds for sale around here.
The stuff is scream'in good but a bit of a P.I.T.A to make. Have a good pair of heatproof rubber gloves the stuff is HOT when you stretch and ball it.


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## noboundaries (Apr 28, 2021)

forktender said:


> I made Mozza. in a pizza coarse that I took in the Napa Valley the hard part is making or finding curds for sale around here.
> The stuff is scream'in good but a bit of a P.I.T.A to make. Have a good pair of heatproof rubber gloves the stuff is HOT when you stretch and ball it.


Got the gloves. Thanks for the head's up!


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## chef jimmyj (Apr 29, 2021)

noboundaries said:


> That's good to know.  Just flavored water, then.
> 
> What about protein? The reason I ask is how the second ciabatta turned out using a recipe I've used before. It had an open crumb but was heavier and VERY moist compared to previous ciabattas I've done with the same recipe. I did switch bread flours from Bob's Red Mill to King Arthur, so there's that.



There is very little if any protein. The two primary  proteins in milk is Casein and Whey Protein. Rennet is the most commin way Casein is coagulated to make Cheese.
The remaining Whey and it's protein are Re-cooked with Acid and you get Ricotta.
However, heating Whole Milk and adding Acid will coagulate and precipitate both Casein and Whey Protein, leaving trace amounts other proteins, some Fat, Calcium and Vitamins not destroyed by heat.
I suspect the King Arthur Flour gave a different result. There is no reason to Toss the spent Whey if you have the ability to store it and use it....BUT...Don't go out of your Whey. ...JJ


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## noboundaries (Apr 29, 2021)

chef jimmyj said:


> There is very little if any protein. The two primary  proteins in milk is Casein and Whey Protein. Rennet is the most commin way Casein is coagulated to make Cheese.
> The remaining Whey and it's protein are Re-cooked with Acid and you get Ricotta.
> However, heating Whole Milk and adding Acid will coagulate and precipitate both Casein and Whey Protein, leaving trace amounts other proteins, some Fat, Calcium and Vitamins not destroyed by heat.
> I suspect the King Arthur Flour gave a different result. There is no reason to Toss the spent Whey if you have the ability to store it and use it....BUT...Don't go out of your Whey. ...JJ


Ahhh, thanks JJ. I feel WHEY smarter.


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## noboundaries (Apr 29, 2021)

I just tasted the whey.  That is some delicious tasting non-nutritional liquid. Kind of like buttery water with a hint of a tang. Definitely going to keep baking with it. WHEY COOL!


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## noboundaries (Apr 30, 2021)

Sooooo, part 2 to the story. In a nutshell; our new favorite pizza crust with a 4-day aged poolish.

Last Monday I started a poolish experiment to use this weekend, aging a poolish over several days. 3/4 cup whey (180 grams) (you can use water), 1 cup KA bread flour (120 grams), and 1/2 tsp active dry yeast.  Mix and loosely seal. Set it on the counter for a hour or two to get started, then into the fridge keeping the seal loose. 

So today, Friday, I was going to use the poolish to make a ciabatta. Got a late start around 1 PM, and by 3 PM I realized I didn't have anything thawed for dinner. Screw the ciabatta. I'll make a pizza! 

I didn't have my usual pizza or sauce ingredients, and my wife has been asking for new flavors. Looked in the fridge and the cabinet. I decided new flavors she'd get. 

Started a seasoned sauce with canned diced tomatoes and let them simmer and reduce for about 90 minutes. 

Switched gears on the dough halfway through the ciabatta process. It is a 100% hydrated dough, so talk about wet. I gave it one last lift and fold, then set it in my proofing oven for two hours. I put 2-3 cups boiling water to a pan in bottom of the oven at start and after an hour to keep the oven between 75-95F, perfect for proofing dough. 

After two hours the dough had doubled with nice bubbles. Loaded my big cutting board with about a cup and a half of bread flour. Dumped the wet dough on the flour and spread another cup of flour over the top. Folded and kneaded for a couple of minutes to get a workable smooth dough. Sprayed a 16" pizza pan with oil, put the dough in the middle of the pan, sprinkled the dough with flour, covered with a towel, and let it rest and relax for 20 minutes so it could be spread to the edge of the pan.

Preheated the oven to 475F with a cast iron pizza stone. Built the pizza in this order: dough, provolone cheese, Genoa salami, uncured sliced ham, the sauce, Pepperoccinis, feta cheese, and freshly grated pecorino romano. Brushed the crust with olive oil, then baked it for 25 minutes. 

My wife has been raving about the taste of the pizza, especially the crust, during and after dinner. I've been making crusts for decades and she said this was the best crust I ever made. We always compared my crusts to a place that made our favorite sourdough crusts. She said this was better than theirs. I have to agree. 

Aged poolish. So easy. Massive flavor ingredient without having to cold ferment the dough. Adding the aged poolish to any scratch dough recipe would probably work.


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