Ingredients
550 Grams Strong White Bread Flour (flour that has around 12% protein or more - this will give the bread better taste and more chew as ciabatta bread should have more bounce and chew to the texture) 440 Grams mineral water 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast 1/2 Tsp vegetable or olive oil. Equipment 1 Stand Mixer with paddle beater (optional) 2 scrapers measuring cups/spoons Shower cap Baker's Couche or tightly weaved pillow case. Baking parchment. A bowl of slightly warm water. A spray bottle with clean water. Oven 230 degree Celsius, 450 Fahrenheit, gas mark 7. Note: - Weight everything - packed flour will weight more than loosely packed flour, this recipe calls for properly weight ingredients! - The dough will be very sticky and will stick to everything, so when asked to generously flour the work surface, oil the bowl or wet your hands, do it. - First couple of times of making this bread, it will come out slightly flat, weirdly shaped, do not worry. Keep on experimenting with it. Each recipe is different so try different ones until you reach the one you like - and even then, experiment on until you get the bread you like! - Ciabatta means slippers, once the finished loaves come out of the oven, it shapes like slippers! - Ciabatta is an Italian version of Baguette! |
Direction
We start by making starter dough. In a bowl, add 200 g of strong white bread flour and 200 g of slightly warm water. Stir vigorously to incorporate lots of air into the bread, texture should be bubbly slushy. Cover with a shower cap and let it rest at the top shelf of your refrigerator over night, between 12-14 hours. Letting the yeast develop slowly in the fridge means that you get better tasting bread without the harsh smell of the yeast in your finished loaf. After 12-14 hours, remove the starter dough from the fridge and pour it into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add the rest of the water, flour, and salt into the mixer and beat on the lowest setting for 1 minute until the mixture has incorporated. Turn up the mixer to be between low and medium and beat for another 1 minute. Turn up the mixer to medium and beat for another 5 minutes or until the dough begins to separate from the bowl. At this point, stop the mixer and transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover with a shower cap and let rise for 45 minutes. With wet hand softly flip the dough three or four times. Why wet hands? because this dough is very sticky and you wont' get all those delicious dough on your hands when working with it. Cover with the shower cap and let rise for another 45 minutes. Repeat the total of three times. On a well floured surface, tip the bowl and slowly let the dough slide out, try not to flop it or scrap at it as you will lose those hard earned air pockets. Sprinkle generously with more flour, don't worry, this will only surface flour, we will not incorporate them into our dough. With scrapers, lightly shape the dough into a large square, if you find that the dough sticks to the scrapers, just sprinkle more flour to it. Divide the dough in half Shape the dough into short rectangle and using the scrapers, gently and quickly transfer to a well floured couche. Fold the couche up about 1 inch to separate the two dough. Cover with tea towel for another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, turn on your oven to 230 degree Celsius. Flip a baking tray and place it in the center of the oven. At the bottom, add a tray of water. This will give the loaves nice crunchy crust. Once the oven has come to a proper temperature, transfer the dough onto a heat proof cutting board with parchment paper on it. Then feeling as professional as you can, gently slide the dough onto the baking tray without it hitting the back of the oven or messing the shape of the dough. Spray the oven with a couple spiff of water. Bake for 12 minutes and then rotate the loaf which should puff up by now. Bake for another 8 minutes to start finish the bread. Leave to cool for 1-4 hours before storing. Can be kept in freezer for up to a month. |