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I make my own ciabatta with similar flour mix/ratio (34% hard white wheat flour), but at 75% hydration and no oil. I’ll try this one, but I have almost always found that I’m not as adept at the higher hydration levels that are routinely used by you and Eric. Wish me luck.
these ciabattas look delicious, but not having kernza grains, which one(s) would you recommend as a substitute?
@kagy Whenever I use whole grain flour in a recipe, it’s home milled and a little thirstier than large-scale stonemilled flour. That’s probably not where the difference is coming from though if have Kernza grain (to mill at home). Another thought: are you using Breadtopia’s 13.5% protein bread flour? Or KA which is 12.7%? That could make a difference in dough thirst. Either way, good luck!
@Lambert You could use any whole grain flour you want based off flavor preference. For the most aromatic, maybe look at rouge de bordeaux, red fife, or rye (which is a totally different aroma but stands out nonetheless)…
If you pick a soft white wheat, einkorn, rye then you probably want to stick with this hydration. If you use a harder red wheat, you will want more water in the dough.
I used KA bread flour and KA whole grains flour because they are what I had in my pantry. Definitely a sticky dough but I am hoping for the best as I will be putting them in the oven soon.
I use KA, but I substitute 2% with vital wheat gluten. I have no real good idea as to what my final protein level is. Additionally, I purchase my hard white wheat berries from a local WA grower, and mill them at home.
@Linloftin I hope your ciabatta turned out well. Your KA whole wheat flour is stronger than Kernza, so I wouldn’t worry about the lower protein level in the bread flour.
@kagy Those ciabatta look great! Last time I used VWG I winged it, but here is @djd418 calculator if you want to check it out, from the Gluten section of his Panettone blog post.
I plugged in numbers for Bob’s Red Mill VWG which is 23g protein per 30g serving = 76.6%
Any good substitutes for kernza till I can get some?
You can use any flour / flavor profile you want. If you use a more thirsty flour (for example, hard red spring wheats), you’ll want to use more water. On the flip side, a wheat like einkorn will call for less water. Here’s a guide to the different flours Breadtopia carries:
