Ciabatta Bread

Fresh homemade ciabatta bread

I know what you are already thinking, especially if you’re living somewhere where it’s very hot and you do not have air conditioning. “Why are you posting a bread recipe in August?!” I’m glad you asked, and I have two reasons to give. First off, I had a craving and it’s hard to say no to a craving no matter what time of year it is. The second reason is because we live in a climate where the summer has mostly felt like spring, so it’s easy to keep on baking no matter what time of year it is. And I love baking. I really love baking.

I don’t actually bake a lot of bread, at least not recently, but when I do my favorite kinds to make are of the rustic variety. There’s just something about fresh, rustic bread that is hard to resist: the crusty outside, the spongy inside, and the feeling of accomplishment.

I realized after making my first rustic bread that it really isn’t as hard to make as it appears. I think Americans are so used to soft, overly glutinous breads that to think of making a boule or baguette makes the heart palpitate and the glands sweat. There’s no need, because rustic bread is less about difficulty and more about patience because of the time needed to allow the bread to rise and do its thing.

After eating store-bought ciabatta bread throughout the years, I finally decided to try my hand at making it for the first time a couple of years ago or so. When I made it, I chose to make it using only white flour, but I decided that at some point I would attempt using at least some whole wheat. I did this for the first time this last weekend, and I am pleased to say that it turned out well! It’s not fully whole wheat – that may be a future experiment – but all the recipe needed was just a little bit more water since I did use some whole wheat (which tends to soak up more water than plain white flour).

Ciabatta Bread
This recipe is based on the one found in No Need to Knead by Suzanne Dunaway

IMPORTANT: If you choose to use only white flour, reduce the water in the biga to 1 cup, and the water in the Ciabatta to 1 1/2 cups. If you don’t, the dough will be much too runny!

Biga

• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 cups whole wheat flour

Ciabatta

• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 4 cups white flour
• 2 teaspoons salt dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
• White flour for dusting

The evening before you bake your bread, proceed with making the biga. First, mix your yeast and warm water in a large glass or ceramic bowl.

Mixing the yeast and the warm water

Add in the whole wheat flour, and stir until everything is well combined. The dough should be wet like a biscuit dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight at room temperature. You can let it ferment for up to 18 hours.

Making the biga

The next day your biga should look similar to my next pictures. You’ll see that it will have risen a little bit, and the whole mixture will be covered with little bubbles. When you take off the plastic wrap, there should be a slightly sour smell. If it is more than slightly sour – that’s okay! The point is to get the starter active and fermented.

Fermented biga

When you are ready to proceed making your ciabatta bread, add the lukewarm water from the second portion of your recipe to a larger bowl then sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir until the yeast is dissolved.

Mixing the water and yeast together

Next add the biga into the water and yeast mixture. It will take a few minutes and some patience, but mix the liquid and the biga together until it’s pretty well combined.

Mixing the biga with the yeast mixture

Add the flour and the salt mixture, and mix well. The dough will be soft and sticky, which is exactly what you want. You don’t want the dough to be too dry. Remember – this is a rustic loaf you’re making, not an American loaf which tends to have a drier dough.

Mixing the flour and biga/yeast mixture together

Cover the dough and let it stand in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size. What I like to do is turn on the oven for a couple of minutes (not much more than that – you don’t want it to be too warm), then turn it off and let the bowl sit in there. This is especially a good idea if you’re house is cold. It’s easier to get bread to rise in a warmer environment.

Tip: If you are using plastic wrap, spray it with some cooking oil first and then cover the bowl – this will make it so the dough does not stick to the plastic wrap. It will be easier to remove the plastic wrap later, and you won’t lose any dough either.

The first rise

After the first rise is complete, take a spatula and lift up the dough and fold it over on itself. Do this a handful of times. This allows the gluten to rest. Cover it again and allow it to rise a second time for about 45 minutes or until it doubles in size.

Allowing the gluten to rest

I loosened the plastic wrap a little bit so that the dough could rise beyond the top of the bowl without having to press up against the wrap too much. This was probably a good thing because my dough went a little crazy! It was fun to see, though, and no harm done.

I think the dough has risen!

The recipe in the No Need to Knead book says that at this point you can refrigerate the dough, and two hours before you form your bread for baking, you can take the dough out of the refrigerator. It will rise again and it should be soft and silky.

I don’t like to wait, though, so I forged on ahead.

Every time I have made ciabatta I have used a little bit too much flour when I have dusted my baking pans (if you use too much flour, it can burn and smoke up the kitchen – not a good idea), so I decided to take a different approach this time. First, instead of using just a cookie sheet, I used a silicone baking liner on the cookie sheet, then dusted that lightly with flour. In the picture I am using a small tea strainer (which worked perfectly!).

Dusting the pan with flour

Dump the dough onto the cookie sheet.

Getting ready to shape the dough

Divide the dough into two equal pieces and place the other half on another cookie sheet. Stretch the dough so it winds up looking like a large rectangle.

Stretching the ciabatta dough

Fold over each end of the dough, but not so they are touching.

Folding the ciabatta dough

Allow the dough to rise another half hour or until it has doubled in volume.

The final rise

About 20 minutes into the final rise, preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit (yeah, I hear you people who have hot hot weather right now – how about you just bookmark this recipe for fall, hm?).

I don’t have a picture of this, but after the dough has finished rising, turn it over so that the folded portion is on the bottom of the loaf instead of the top. It isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, and if you have your dough a little misshapen after you turn it over, no worries – you can award yourself more points for an even more rustic loaf!

Place the two formed loaves of dough into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 15 minutes. But honestly, you may only need an additional five to 10 minutes. Just keep your eye on it and take it out when it is a nice brown on top.

In the oven!

Once the bread has finished baking, allow it to cool. When you first take it out of the oven, it will seem quite hard on the outside, but as it cools it will soften a little and have some give when you squeeze it.

Finally! Ciabatta bread!

When you cut it, you’ll find that your loaf will have some large holes in it. Mine didn’t have uniform holes, so some portions of the bread were a little more dense.

Holey ciabatta bread, Batman!

And how to cut it? I like to slice the loaf in half like you see in the above picture, then I like to cut those pieces in half, then finally I like to cut those pieces in half lengthwise. Perfect for sandwiches, dipping in olive oil or vinegar, or just slathering with some vegan butter. Very yum.

Do you ever bake bread? What is your favorite kind to make?

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