Recipe For Ciabatta Bread Dough

CIABATTA

Steps:

• Make the starter: Using your hands, combine flour, yeast, and water in a bowl. Gently work to form a ball. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at cool room temperature until it has risen slightly and is bubbling, 12 to 15 hours.
• Make the dough: Whisk together flour and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and starter, and stir with a rubber spatula until mixture comes together in a slightly sticky, loosely formed ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 minutes.
• Gently turn dough onto an unfloured work surface. Sprinkle with salt, and drizzle with oil. To incorporate oil into bread, use the heel of one hand to stretch half of the dough away from you at the same time your other hand is stretching the other half toward you. Fold in half, and repeat until oil has been completely incorporated (dough will no longer have a sheen to it and there should be no oil on work surface).
• To knead: Gather dough, lifting it above work surface. Hold one end of dough close to you while you cast the other end in front of you, onto the surface. Pull the end of dough in your hands toward you, stretching it gently, then fold the dough in half on top of itself. Repeat: Lift, cast, stretch, and fold. Knead the dough until it is smooth, supple, and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a dough scraper to clean the surface as needed, adding the scraps to the dough. (Dough will be very sticky, but avoid adding more flour until the end, when it may be necessary to add a very small amount. Add the flour to your fingers, not the dough.) Form into a ball.
• Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise at cool room temperature for 45 minutes.
• Gently turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. (Do not punch dough to deflate.) Fold into thirds, as you would a business letter. Then fold it in half crosswise. Return to bowl, cover, and let rise at cool room temperature until it has almost doubled, at least 75 minutes.
• Gently turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a dough scraper or a knife, divide dough into 2 equal portions. Cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, spread each portion of dough into a rectangle that's roughly 6 by 4 inches. (Be careful not to deflate bubbles.) Fold dough into thirds again, as you would a business letter, pressing seams with lightly floured fingers. Place dough, seam side down, on a generously floured linen towel or a baking sheet lined with floured parchment. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise at cool room temperature until it has almost doubled and a floured finger pressed into side leaves a slight indentation, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Place a skillet on oven rack adjusted to lowest position and a baking stone on middle oven rack. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. If using a linen towel, gently transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Just before baking, stretch each portion into a 10-by-4-inch rectangle. Immediately dimple entire surface with lightly floured fingers. Pour 1/2 cup hot water into skillet in oven. Slide bread and parchment onto baking stone.
• Immediately reduce oven to 450 degrees. Bake, rotating once, until bread is golden brown, sounds hollow when bottom is thumped, and interior registers 205 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. Bread is best the day you make it.

HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC CIABATTA BREAD

Steps:

• MAKE THE BIGA: At least 12 and up to 24 hours before making your ciabatta, make the biga. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ingredients for the biga and stir together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
• COMBINE THE DOUGH: Add the rest of the ingredients for the ciabatta dough into the bowl with the biga. Stir until well combined. It will appear as if there is not enough liquid at first, but as you work it together it will become a very wet and sticky dough. You may need to use your hands to knead it slightly to hydrate all the flour. As soon as all of the flour is hydrated with no dry spots, cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and let it set at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• STRETCH AND FOLD: After the dough has rested for 45 minutes, you will do a series of three stretch and folds with the dough. With the dough still in the bowl, lightly dampen your hand (this will prevent the dough from sticking) and pull on one side of the dough and stretch it up and then fold it down over the top of the dough. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and do the same with the next side. Do this again until you have stretched all four sides of the dough up and over on itself. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 45 more minutes. Stretch and fold the dough for the second round. Cover and let rest for 45 more minutes. Stretch and fold for the third round. Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 more minutes. This is a three hour process from when the dough is mixed to when it is ready to be shaped. Four 45 minute resting periods with three stretch and folds in between.
• PREP THE OVEN & OTHER EQUIPMENT: During the final resting period, prep your pans and your oven. Position one oven rack in the very bottom position in the oven and another rack in the middle position. Place a cast iron skillet or another heatproof skillet on the bottom rack and a baking stone, baking steal, or a sheet pan turned upside down on the middle rack. Preheat your oven to 450F (230C). You want your oven and pans to be heating for at least an hour before the bread goes into the oven. Additionally, prepare a pizza peel or an unrimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper sprinkled lightly with semolina or cornmeal.
• SHAPE INTO CIABATTA: Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. It will be very wet and sticky. Use a damp bench scraper to scrape the dough out of the bowl. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Dampen your hands and then pick up one piece of the dough and place it on the prepared parchment paper. Stretch and pat out the dough to a flat rectangle shape. It will be very sticky but wet hands work best to shape it. It can be a rustic shape. Repeat this step with the second piece of dough. (alternatively you can shape all of the dough into one big loaf)
• LET THE DOUGH RISE: Lightly flour the top of the loaves and then cover with a floured towel. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
• BAKE: Fill a small bowl with about 2 cups of ice cubes. You want to work quickly and carefully when transferring the ciabatta. Open the oven and gently slide the whole piece of parchment paper with the ciabatta onto the preheated baking stone or sheet pan. Quickly pour the ice cubes into the preheated skillet and immediately shut the oven door. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the ciabatta loaves are a light golden brown and sound hallow when tapped.
• COOL: Allow the ciabatta to cool before slicing. This will completely develop their flavor. Ciabatta is best when eaten the same day. However, leftover ciabatta can be wrapped in foil once completely cooled and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

CIABATTA

Steps:

• To Make Sponge: In a small bowl stir together 1/8 teaspoon of the yeast and the warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In a bowl stir together yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the water, and 1 cup of the bread flour. Stir 4 minutes, then cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand at cool room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• To Make Bread: In a small bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together milk mixture, sponge, water, oil, and flour at low speed until flour is just moistened; add salt and mix until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.) Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and cut in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers and dust tops with flour. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone on oven rack in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425 F (220 degrees C).
• Transfer 1 loaf on its parchment to a rimless baking sheet with a long side of loaf parallel to far edge of baking sheet. Line up far edge of baking sheet with far edge of stone or tiles, and tilt baking sheet to slide loaf with parchment onto back half of stone or tiles. Transfer remaining loaf to front half of stone in a similar manner. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool loaves on a wire rack.

CIABATTA BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients into the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle, and Start. (See Editor's Note for stand mixer instructions.)
• Dough will be quite sticky and wet once cycle is completed; resist the temptation to add more flour. Place dough on a generously floured board, cover with a large bowl or greased plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Lightly flour baking sheets or line them with parchment paper. Using a serrated knife, divide dough into 2 pieces, and form each into a 3x14-inch oval. Place loaves on prepared sheets and dust lightly with flour. Cover, and let rise in a draft-free place for approximately 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Spritz loaves with water. Place loaves in the oven, positioned on the middle rack. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

CIABATTA (AN ITALIAN BREAD)

Steps:

• Sponge: In a mixer bowl, add the yeast to the water, allow to stand for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently. Sift the flour and add to the yeast. Combine ingredients well, cover and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.
• Dough: Add the yeast to the milk, stir and let it stand 3-4 minutes to be sure the yeast is working (it should foam up).
• Add the yeast mixture, water and oil to the sponge and mix with a dough hook.
• Add 2 cups of flour and the salt and knead for 2 minutes at low speed. Add the remaining flour slowly and knead for 3 more minutes, adding more water, until the dough begins to pull from the sides of the bowl.
• The dough should be quite soft and wet - a lot like a thick mud - this is why it cannot be kneaded by hand. Add the last of the flour slowly. Add a little more water, if necessary. (You may have to stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice. As the dough kneads, you will see it turn from a puddle of mud to a sticky dough with long, long strings of gluten forming and stretching from the sides of the bowl to the ball of dough on the hook).
• Cover or place in a large, oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until TRIPLED in size and bubbly.
• Get three baking sheets and sprinkle them with flour. Take a spatula and carefully spoon out a third of the still very sticky dough onto each. Try not to deflate the dough too much, although it will deflate some, you can't really help it.
• Since ciabatta means slipper in Italian, try to make each loaf the length of a man's shoe. If you spoon the dough out to one edge, and sort of use your spatula to guide it in a ribbon down the baking sheet you can preserve the light strands or striations in the dough, which will look nice when it's proofed and baked. The loaves will probably be about an inch thick. If you want to give them a nicer shape, flour your hands lightly and neaten up the edges into an oblong. Think shoe, not loaf! Think rustic - don't make the loaves overly neat and perfect, you want a rustic look. Flour your hands again and very gently pat the tops of the loaves to flour them, or sprinkle them with flour if you're afraid of smushing them.
• The dough will still be like glue at this point, so don't even try to handle it much. It's a mess, and that's the way it needs to be. Let them proof for 30-40 minutes, or until a little less than double.
• Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F.
• Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes (22-25 minutes if using stones or tiles) or until bread just begins to turn light golden-brown. During the first 10 minutes, brush or spray the bread lightly with water twice (spraying is faster - you don't want the heat escaping from the oven).
• Enjoy!

SOURDOUGH CIABATTA

Steps:

• Sourdough Starter
• Build a 100% hydration (or higher) sourdough starter over a couple of days until it is more than 550g in weight, about 4 1/2 cups volume, active and floating.
• There are numerous, equally effective ways to get this amount of active starter. I fed my starter and refrigerated it at about 2 cups in volume. On baking day, I put 220g of starter in a large bowl, fed it 150g of all-purpose flour and 180g of water. In volume, this is approximately 1 cup starter, 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup water. Several hours later, it was over four cups in volume and it floated.
• Hand Mixing Instructions
• Mix together in a large bowl all of the ingredients (flour, active starter, water, olive oil, salt) except the additional 75g of water. I used a danish dough whisk until the ingredients were incorporated. Mark the time here if you like to track fermentation this way.
• Develop the gluten in the dough by hand for 8-10 minutes or until the dough passes the windowpane test. Use one hand to turn the bowl and the other hand to scrape, scoop and pull the dough around the bowl in the opposite direction. Feel free to take breaks and do not worry about pausing the clock. Here is a video of this mixing technique.
• Add the additional 75g of water and gently fold and squeeze it into the dough.
• Stand Mixer Instructions
• If you prefer to use a stand mixer, you can put all of the ingredients including the extra 75g of water into the mixer bowl at once and use the paddle attachment on med speed for 5 minutes and then the dough hook attachment on med speed for 2 minutes or until dough passes the windowpane test.
• After Mixing
• Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
• For the first stretch and fold, lift the dough with a dough scraper from one side and flop it over to the opposite side. Do four sides, twice around.
• Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
• For the second stretch and fold, lightly oil a new bowl, scrape the dough into the new bowl and stretch and fold using the dough scraper from all four sides once around.
• Cover and let rest 60 minutes.
• For the third stretch and fold, wet your fingertips and gently pull the sides of the dough off the bowl and toward the center of the dough. After you have done this around the entire bowl, scoop the dough up with both hands coming from the sides and downward (so that the dough is like a droopy cat with your hands in the middle). Do not pull hard and rip the dough if it does not come off the bowl easily. Lay it back down and scoop again but from the other sides. Repeat both directions a second time.
• Cover and let ferment until puffy and roughly doubled.
• My bulk fermentation from the initial mixing of the dough was 4 hours at a room temperature of 79F.
• Heavily flour your countertop, then scrape/pour the dough onto it. Flour your hands repeatedly and gently slide your fingers under the dough from all sides to pull it outward into a rectangular shape about 1/2 an inch thick.
• This technique does not de-gas the dough, and seems to encourage big irregular holes in the crumb. I also made a batch where I pressed the dough into a rectangle, de-gassing it, and I got more regular holes in the crumb. Both techniques work well in my opinion.
• Flip the bottom half of the dough onto the top half (fold along the long side of the rectangle.) You will now have a narrower rectangle with a floured top (and bottom).
• Gently cut the dough into 3 square-ish pieces. See photo gallery.
• Prepare a linen couche with a lot of flour. Create channels, as in this photo and the photo in the gallery below, wide enough to lay the dough slipper in. You can also use tea towels or parchment paper.
• Using a bench scraper, transfer the three slippers to the couche. In the transfer, you can gently stretch the slippers to be a little longer.
• Loosely cover and let proof for about 1 hour (longer at temps under 75F).
• If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven. You can also cook the slippers on a metal cookie sheet or upside down cast iron pan. (Do not use a dark non-stick surface because of the high oven temperature).
• Prepare to create steam early in the baking process. You can put a cast iron pan on the shelf under the baking stone. Or you can create a drip system by putting an aluminum pan with a pinhole in the oven under the stone, and a metal cookie sheet on the base of the oven. When making the pinhole, test over your sink that water drips through it about 1-2 drops a second. This system was devised by Breadtopia community member @peevee.
• My heating element is exposed on the bottom of my oven, so the aluminum pan drips onto the bottom of the oven rather than a cookie sheet, which works fine too.
• Preheat your oven to 500 F for 30 minutes before the dough finishes proofing. If you are baking on a cookie sheet, a 15 minute preheat should be enough.
• When proofing is complete, flip your slippers over onto three narrow sheets of parchment paper, place them on a pizza peel (an upside-down cookie sheet can be a peel too), and slide the slippers onto your preheated stone or cookie sheet.
• I fit three ciabatta slippers on my stone with a little careful adjustment, but you can do two batches if needed.
• Pour a cup of water onto the aluminum tray or cast iron pan that is under your stone or cookie sheet, and quickly close the oven door to trap the steam.
• Bake at 500 F for 10 minutes. Then remove the parchment paper and rotate the slippers 180 degrees if your oven seems to brown unevenly.
• Bake an additional 8-10 minutes at 450 F.
• Important After baking, turn off the oven, crack open the door a couple of inches, and leave the slippers in the oven for another 5 minutes. This will make the crust crunchier.
• If you make rolls or larger slippers, adjust your cooking time accordingly. Internal temperature should be about 205 F.
• Let cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
• For most purposes (olive oil and tomatoes, butter and blue cheese, BBQ pulled meat), I like to slice a slipper horizontally and then into roll-size pieces 3-4 inches wide.

CIABATTA

Steps:

• The night before, make the biga (see tip, below). Stir yeast with 50ml warm water, stand for 10 mins, then add another 80ml warm water. Gradually add the flour in a stand mixer on its lowest setting. Once it's a wet dough, transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover and leave for 12 hours or overnight at room temperature.
• In the morning, combine the yeast and milk and leave to stand for 10 mins. Tip into a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 160ml water, the biga and the olive oil. Then add the flour and 1 heaped tsp salt. Use the dough hook of a stand mixer to combine the dough. Knead for 10 mins until smooth and elastic. Don't worry if it looks very wet, it should to be a very wet dough! Pour into a well-oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove for an hour and a half or until doubled in size.
• Once rested, begin to do a series of folds - lift the dough from the edge, pull up, over, then release it. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and do the same again. Repeat so you do a full turn of the bowl twice, or 8 folds. Rest for 30 mins, then repeat the whole folding process once more.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 6. Tip the dough onto a really well-floured surface and cut in half. The dough will feel like a batter and spread across the surface a bit, but don't panic, just work on a well-floured surface, using the flour and a pastry scraper to help move the dough. Shape the dough into 2 large squares (about 20cm x 20cm). Dealing with each loaf at a time, fold the dough in from each side, as if folding a booklet. Flip over, then pick up the roll and place each onto separate well-floured sheets of baking paper. The roll will be very soft, so oil or flour your hands well. Allow to rest for another 30 mins, covered with a floured tea towel. Don't worry if it spreads a little.
• While the dough rests, heat a baking sheet in the oven. Once the dough has rested, slide each of the loaves, along with the baking paper beneath them, onto the hot baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 mins, until the crust is golden and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the base. Move to a wire rack and cool for an hour before slicing and serving with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

CIABATTA

Steps:

• Make biga:
• Place water in processor. Sprinkle yeast over. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 8 minutes. Add 1 cup flour; process until blended. Scrape down sides of work bowl. Add 1 cup flour; repeat processing and scraping. Add remaining 1 1/3 cups flour. Process until small moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball (dough will be firm); place in large bowl. Cover; chill overnight (biga will soften, resembling thick oatmeal in texture).
• Make dough:
• Pull biga into walnut-size pieces; place in a clean large bowl. Add water, yeast and 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons semolina. Using 1 hand, squeeze ingredients together 2 minutes. Work dough 4 minutes by scooping sections from sides of bowl and pressing into center, blending into very soft, shaggy mass. Using spatula, scrape dough from sides of bowl into center. Let dough rest in bowl, uncovered, 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle salt over dough. Using 1 hand, knead dough by rotating bowl 1/4 turn at a time, scooping dough from sides and folding down into center until dough starts to come away from sides of bowl, about 5 minutes. Scrape dough from hand and sides of bowl. Cover bowl with towel; let dough rest 20 minutes.
• Rotating bowl 1/4 turn at a time, fold dough over onto itself 6 times; turn dough over in bowl. Cover with towel and let dough rest in bowl 20 minutes.
• Bake bread:
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Sprinkle work surface with additional semolina. Turn dough out onto semolina. Using pastry scraper or large knife, cut dough in half; keep halves separated. Let stand, uncovered, 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle 2 large baking sheets with additional semolina. Transfer each dough half, semolina side up, to 1 sheet. Stretch each dough half to 16x4-inch rectangle. Press fingertips into dough in several places to dimple surface (characteristic of this bread). Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool. (Can be prepared 2 weeks ahead. Double-wrap in aluminum foil to freeze.)