Ciabatta

Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to feel like I’m really making progress with my bread baking. Between the crusty country loaf, the cranberry walnut bread, and the walnut onion bread, things seem to be improving. With the momentum from these successes, I finally got up the courage to try a bread that had been at the top of my to-do list for quite some time, only to be avoided due to my own worries and perfectionism.

Ciabatta is probably one of my favorite breads. I just love the super open crumb and the intense crust. I had been wanting to make it for quite some time. However, being a bit of a perfectionist, I really wanted to get it right. To achieve the open crumb, the dough must have a very high hydration level and be kneaded sufficiently to build up the gluten necessary to support the rise. I was a little nervous that I would mess it up. But, with my newfound courage, I went for it.

The process began on Monday, when I prepared the biga. A biga is a stiffer form of starter than a sponge. It can be allowed to ferment in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, making the final bread more flavorful. Naturally, I wanted to go for maximum flavor, so I let it ferment for the full 3 days.

For the biga, I mixed flour, water, and yeast with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes. This builds up some gluten, allowing the biga to rise. It was actually pretty tough on my arms and wrists to keep up the stirring for the full 5 minutes, especially as I got more gluten formation, making it a bit tougher. But, after powering through, it began to pull away from the sides of the bowl a bit, an indicator of proper gluten formation. The final product was smooth, sticky, and a bit stringy from the gluten.

 

I scraped it down from the sides of the bowl.

I covered it with plastic wrap and let it rise until approximately tripled in size, which took about 5 hours 30 minutes.

I stirred it down, covered it again, and placed it in the refrigerator. This was at about 5:15pm on Monday.

On Thursday, I was ready to bake some bread. I took the starter out of the fridge at about 9am, then let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour before using it.

At about 10am, I began mixing the dough. In the bowl of my KitchenAid, I whisked the flour and yeast before whisking in the salt. It’s important not to add the salt with the yeast to prevent them from coming in contact with each other, killing the yeast.

Then, I added the water and biga.

I mixed on low speed (#2 for KitchenAid) only briefly to moisten the flour. It probably only took about 20 seconds or so. Then, I beat it on medium-high (#6) for 3 minutes. This helps to build up the strong glutens necessary to hold the high rise and open crumb structure of the ciabatta. The dough was VERY wet, almost soupy. As the mixer was running, I could actually start to see gluten strands forming, which was pretty cool! It was supposed to come away from the sides of the bowl by the end of these 3 minutes. This actually happened very suddenly in about the last 15 seconds. So, if it doesn’t happen until the last second, don’t worry. But, if it still doesn’t happen after 3 minutes, just follow the directions in the recipe and you should be fine. Different brands of flour can differ in the amount of water they are able to absorb, so even if you do everything right, you may need to accommodate these differences. Just be careful not to add too much flour. The wet dough is very much necessary to create a good ciabatta.

Since my dough did come away from the sides of the bowl, I continued beating at medium speed (#4) for 2 minutes. At this point, it had gathered around the paddle. It was also very smooth and shiny.

To transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, I actually detached the paddle and was able to pick up the dough in one long strand. Now that’s gluten formation! 🙂

I lightly oiled the top of the dough and covered it with plastic wrap.

I allowed it to rise until tripled in size, which took about 2 hours.

For shaping, I had to be very careful due to the high hydration level of the dough. It would easily stick to anything not covered in flour. So, I very generously sifted flour over my counter.

I scraped the dough out onto the well-floured counter, using an oiled dough scraper.

Then, I sifted more flour over the top of the dough.

I very gently pressed the sides inward to form a long loaf shape. The dough was very soft and full of air. I had to be very careful not to release too much air.

Then, I flipped it over and placed it on my baking sheet, which I had lined with a silpat nonstick liner. Again, I pressed it in at the sides very gently, as it had expanded a bit in flipping it over.

I loosely covered it with plastic wrap. Usually, when baking bread, I would oil the plastic wrap at this point, but this time it was the flour that prevented it from sticking. So don’t try to use oil here. Just make sure there’s plenty of flour on top of the dough. If necessary, you could sift it with more flour.

I let it rise for 1 hour 45 minutes, at which point it was very puffy.

About 20 minutes before the dough had finished rising, I placed a baking pan on an oven shelf at the lowest level and a baking stone on a shelf just above it. I preheated the oven to 475 degrees F.

When it had finished rising, I placed the loaf in the oven on top of the baking stone. It was so full of air that it actually wiggled a bit as I moved it! I placed some ice cubes in the baking pan and quickly shut the door.

I baked it for 5 minutes at 475 degrees F before reducing the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Then, I baked it for another 20 minutes, rotating after 10 to achieve an even bake. At this point, it was a nice golden brown. I turned off the oven, propped the door open, and let it sit in the hot oven for 5 more minutes. This helps to create a nice, crisp crust. Finally, I removed it from the oven and placed it on a cooling rack to cool completely. The loaf was feather light!

When I sliced into it, I found a wonderful open crumb! I was so happy! It was nice and soft on the inside, while the crust was perfectly crispy with just a bit of chew. The flavor was wonderful! After my worries about messing it up, I’m so glad that I finally found the courage to make this absolutely delicious bread.

 

(Adapted from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum)

Ingredients

Biga

• 2.6 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/16 teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 oz water, room temperature

Dough

• 4.75 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 oz water, room temperature
• biga (from above)

Instructions

1. In a small bowl and with a wood spoon, mix flour, yeast, and water for biga. Mix for about 5 minutes, until a smooth, fairly sticky mixture has formed and has begun to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature until tripled in size, about 6 hours.
3. Stir down and use to make ciabatta or refrigerate up to 3 days.
4. If biga was refrigerated, remove from refrigerator 1 hour before mixing to allow to come to room temperature.
5. In bowl of stand mixer, whisk flour and yeast. Then whisk in salt.
6. Add water and biga. Mix with paddle attachment on low speed (“stir” or #2 for KitchenAid) briefly, until flour is moistened.
7. Beat on medium-high (#6 for KitchenAid) for 3 minutes. If it has not pulled away from the sides of the bowl, continue beating for 2 more minutes. If it still has not pulled away, add a small amount of flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing on low speed to incorporate.
8. Beat on medium (#4 for KitchenAid) for 2 minutes.
9. Scrape dough into lightly oiled bowl (or use paddle to lift it, like I did). Lightly oil top of dough. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until tripled in size, about 1 1/4 to 2 hours.
10. Prepare baking sheet, either with nonstick liner or sprinkling of cornmeal.
11. Sift generous amount of flour onto a countertop. Gently scrape dough out onto floured counter and sift flour over the top of dough. Throughout this shaping process, be careful not to release too much air from the dough. Gently press in at the sides of dough to form a long loaf shape. Invert and place on prepared baking sheet. Again, gently press the sides in to create loaf shape. Sift more flour over the top. (You may want to place some parchment or wax paper on either side while sifting, then remove it after, to prevent flour from ending up on baking sheet and burning in the oven.)
12. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until approximately doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
13. During about the last 20 minutes of rise, place a baking pan in oven on shelf at lowest level. Place baking stone on shelf just above it. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
14. Remove plastic wrap and place loaf on baking stone in oven. Place a few ice cubes in baking pan and quickly shut oven door.
15. Bake for 5 minutes at 475 degrees F.
16. Lower oven temperature to 450 degrees F and continue baking another 20 minutes, until golden brown. Rotate halfway through to ensure even baking.
17. Turn off oven and prop open door. Let loaf sit in oven for 5 minutes.
18. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely.