Overproofing my first ciabatta turned it into a pancake - here's what I missed

I followed a recipe that said let it rise for 2 hours but my kitchen was like 80 degrees that day. After 2 hours the dough was super bubbly and loose and I thought great this is perfect. Nope, I baked it and it spread out flat as a tortilla with zero oven spring. I see so many beginners posting pictures of flat loaves and it's almost always because their dough is overproofed. The poke test is a lifesaver - if you poke the dough and it doesn't spring back at all, it's gone too far. I check my dough every 30 minutes now especially in warmer weather. Has anyone else wrecked a batch by trusting the clock instead of the dough?

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parker_patel8429d ago

...which is funny because everyone always says the poke test is foolproof but honestly it has its own quirks too. Like if your dough is super wet, which ciabatta always is, the poke test can mess with you since it barely springs back even when it's perfect. I've had batches where I poked it, panicked, shaped it anyway, and it turned out fine. The real tell for me is how the dough holds its shape when you flip it out. If it slumps into a puddle instantly, yeah it's done. But if it holds a dome for a few seconds before slowly relaxing, you're probably still good to go. Temperature swings are brutal though, I feel you on that.