They left a big ole air bubble in the middle of the dough before baking.
I will get some disagreement here, but I always slam my french or Italian bread on the counter several times before shaping the loaves.
Linda C

Lowspark:
That was done, so you can just load it with all the good stuff and take a bite. lol

There are a number of reasons to cause that.
Over proofing before Baking, too much Yeast,
Too warm while rising causes the top to rise faster,
causing a large air bubble.

Knead out the air bubbles on the first rise.

Next time you buy Bread, try tapping the top with a pencil.
Maybe you can tell by sound or.

Bring a knife and cut it in half. lol
Lou

LOU

Last year when I was new to bread baking I found triciaÂs tutorial the best for answering question and knowhow I have referred back to it many times. Just go to the top of the page and click on FAQ. Everything you ever wanted to know about bread baking.

Oh and thank you for the Herbed Monkey Bread recipe I made it over the weekend and it was great. DH thought I was nuts turning on the over, it was 108 outside, but he really likes the results.

Speaking of tricia what happened to her I havenÂt seen her post for a month or so?

Claudia

The ciabatta is a very wet, loose dough that is supposed to have "voids" inside to make it a chewy bread rather than a dense bread like a sandwich loaf. By handling the dough less and NOT kneading out the air bubbles before the last rise as a formed loaf, the result is a light, sort of stringy dough that when baked forms those holes. And you might not know it was like that until you cut into it.
Teresa

I've had that happen to bread I've made on more than one occasion. I'm sure I'm guilty of all the reasons that Lou listed, maybe even in one baking session. lol.

One thing I've wondered is if it has anything to do with being clumsy while forming the loaf for the pan. I'm not very good at that part.

Sally

teresa:
By Jove! you hit the Dough right on the Noggin. lol
I stay with Plain ole Italian Bread with a thick crust that
is Tender, Crispy and has a good taste.

Lowspark:
I hide my money in all them Holes in the bread.

Sally:
It has nothing to do with you being a Clumsy while forming the Dough.
Just don't drop it on the floor and put it back in the Pan.
lol ! lol !

Why do you talk about your self like that ? It's not nice !

How am I doing with the lol's. I don't want to get in trouble.

Claudia:
I know what you mean about Tricia. She helped me out when I first Joined the CF.

Peeped into FAQ's

Surprised to see 15 Tuturial's on Breadmaking.
I've seen them before but didn't realise there were that many.
I think she teaches somewhere too.
Maybe she is busy with something else.

Tricia: Where are you ?????

LOU

teresa,
ya, it was very chewy and stringy, which is what I like about ciabatta. I normally buy ciabatta at a different store but figured I'd try it at this place. It was cheaper and taller -- probably that height was caused by the air hole!

Claudia,
I'm glad you liked that monkey bread. I've made it three times now with two different "fillings". Next time I plan to make it with melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. It's so easy and really good!

Thanks for reminding me about the tutorials. I need to just sit down and read through them.

Lou,
If I HAD any money, hiding it in the bread might work! LOL

Thanks, Lou. Luckily, I've not dropped the dough on the floor, yet, and even if I had, I wouldn't tell anyone!

A long time ago I printed out that tutorial that Tricia made, but I never actually got around to reading it, or rather, I think I scanned it once, then put it in my notebook. I need to re-read it more carefully, as a refresher.

Sally

Sally, Grandma always told me to pat the bread dough into a rectangle, then roll it up tightly and tuck the ends under. If I do that, I don't get an empty space in the loaf, at least not one that's related to shaping the loaf. Yeah, yeah, I know, Grandma was right. She was ALWAYS right, I just have to learn the hard way sometimes.

I agree with Teresa, ciabatta is SUPPOSED to have holes. Listen to her, she's taught bread baking classes and done enough recipe testing for companies that I consider her the resident bread expert.

I sometimes get a hole in the bread if I'm not careful while shaping it to go into the pan, but I usually get a big ole' honking hole if I've overproofed, letting the dough rise too long. It's still better, though, than when I overproof and then it falls, giving me a dense loaf of breadcrumb material.

Anyway, may, here's the information from Baking 911, I don't know if you just had a big hole, or if the top crust separated from the loaf, giving you that hole. Causes for either:

Top crust separates from the rest of the bread. This can have a number of causes. The most likely is a poorly formed loaf, allowing oven heat to cause instant aeration when put in the oven. Look at alternate loaf forming techniques. Over-proofing can cause this, so don't let the bread rise quite so long in the future. Too stiff dough, insufficient rising time, or the dough drying out and forming a crust during rising. This can also happen if you freeze the bread to store it for a while.

Large holes in your bread Dough could have been over-kneaded or the dough rose too long. This is an advantage with certain free-form loaves, particularly French or Italian loaves, but with other breads an even crumb is one of the attributes of good baking. All this is really a matter of taste though, so if you want a strong bread with big holes and a chewy crust, give the dough lots of kneading and a long, slow rise  even two risings.

Annie

if the top crust separated from the loaf, giving you that hole.

YA! That's it! That's exactly what happened. So, as I sliced the bread, the crust just sort of broke off so I'd have a misshapen slice, kinda like a large bite had been taken out of it. Well, in fact fully two thirds of the bread ended up like that.

Your list of causes leads me to believe that the bakers at the store I bought it from just didn't do a good job of keeping tabs on the bread they were making that day. And that makes me hesitate to buy bread there again. Especially now that I'm learning to bake myself!

Like I said, I love ciabatta and I understand that the holes are larger than normal bread to give it that chewiness. I'll just buy my ciabatta elsewhere till I get around to trying my hand at baking some.