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Ciabatta Bread Recipe - Carol Field
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 4 Hours 20 Minutes
Yields: 4 Loaves
Conversion Chart: Here >>
Chef's Notes:
Weigh all the ingredients.
Do not add extra flour.
Have a bowl of water nearby when you shape the dough.
Since the dough is wet, dip your hands in water and then scoop up the dough (prevents sticking).
It’s fine to have a well-floured work surface.
Dip the dough scraper into the water and then use it to cut the dough into 4 pieces.
To prevent sticking, moisten hands before rolling and shaping the dough.
The four little loaves will look flat and unpromising but they will rise on the parchment paper.
Let loves rise until they’re puffy but not doubled.
You can leave the loaves on the parchment paper ans place it straight onto the stone without turning them over.
The ciabatta dough should be made in a stand mixer, although it can also be made in a food processor.
I do not recommend kneading the dough by hand.
Despite the flat look, the ciabatta bread will rises nicely in the oven.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
5 tablespoons warm milk
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons water, at room temperature (if using a food processor, use cold water)
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the bowl
2 very full cups (17.5 ounces/500 grams) biga, rested for 12 hours: Here >>
3¾ cups (17.5 ounces/500 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounces/15 grams) salt
Cornmeal
Procedure:
1a. If making the ciabatta in a stand mixer: Stir the yeast into the milk in a mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the water, oil, and biga (be sure to weigh the biga, don’t just measure it by volume) and mix with the paddle until blended. Mix the flour (be sure to weigh the flour, don’t just measure it by volume) and salt, add to the bowl, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. Change to the dough hook and knead for 2 minutes at low speed, then 2 minutes at medium speed. The dough will be very sticky. Knead briefly on a well-floured surface, adding as little flour as possible, until the dough is still sticky but beginning to show evidence of being velvety, supple, springy, and moist.
1b. If making the ciabatta in a food processor: Stir the yeast into the milk in a large bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of cold water, the oil, and the biga (be sure to weigh the biga, don’t just measure it by volume) and mix, squeezing the biga between your fingers to break it up. Place the flour (be sure to weigh the flour, don’t just measure it by volume) and salt in the food processor fitted with the dough blade and pulse several times to sift the ingredients. With the machine running, pour the biga mixture through the feed tube and process until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. Process about 45 seconds longer to knead. Finish kneading on a well-floured surface until the dough is still sticky but beginning to show signs of being velvety, supple, moist, and springy.
2. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1¼ hours. The dough should be full of air bubbles, very supple, elastic, and sticky.
3. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces on a well-floured surface. Roll each piece into a cylinder, then stretch each cylinder into a rectangle, pulling with your fingers to get each piece long and wide enough. It should be approximately 10 by 4 inches.
4. Generously flour 4 pieces of parchment paper placed on peels or upside-down baking sheets. Place each loaf, seam side up, on a piece of parchment. Dimple the loaves vigorously with your fingertips or knuckles so that they won’t rise too much. The dough will look heavily pockmarked, but it is very resilient, so don’t be concerned. Cover the loaves loosely with damp towels and let rise until puffy but not doubled, 1½ to 2 hours. The loaves will look flat and definitely unpromising, but don’t give up; they will rise more in the oven.
5. Approximately 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC) and slide 2 baking stones on the center rack to heat. [Editor’s Note: If like us, you haven’t yet brought yourself to ante up for a baking stone, let alone two of them, flip some large cast-iron skillets upside down and bake the bread on their bottoms. It ought to do the trick. It has for us.)
6. Just before baking the ciabatta, sprinkle the stones with cornmeal. Carefully invert each loaf onto a stone. If the dough sticks a bit to the parchment, just gently work it free from the paper. If you need to, you can leave the paper and remove it 10 minutes later. Bake for a total of 20 to 25 minutes, spraying the oven three times with water in the first 10 minutes. Transfer the ciabatta loaves to wire racks to cool.
Recipe Type: Authentic
Recipe Author: Carol Field
Book: The Italian Baker
Book Author: Carol Field
Publisher: Ten Speed Press, 2011
Original Photograph By:
Photograph Retouched By: Recipe Spy
Recipe Source: http://leitesculinaria.com/79221/recipes-ciabatta.html
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