Artisan Bread

Artisan Bread

A few years ago a friend of mine shared a package of Ciabatta bread and ever since I have been on a quest for the perfect recipe to make my own at home. When she gave me the package I had an exchange student living with me from Brazil and he too found it some of the best bread he had eaten. At that time Ciabatta was not as popular as it is now and so I was only able to find one recipe, which I tried, but was not very good ;>(
Since then you can find all kind of recipes on the Internet and in books on how to make it along with many tips and how to make it easier or turn out better. I have tried almost all of them. I am finding that bread making is an art. It really takes times to get the “feel” of it and to work out a system so everything flows smoothly. I think I’m getting close to making a “perfect” loaf of Ciabatta. The following recipe is my favorite, at this point.

Basic Small Batch Poolish

Source: breadtechnique.com

Mix together in a 2 quart bowl to heavy pancake batter consistency:
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) bread flour
pinch of yeast (1/8 tsp or a little less)
14 ounces of good tasting water (400 ml)

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave on the counter overnight (8-12 hours). In 8-12 hours it will be double in bulk, bubbly and will resemble tapioca pudding.

Move the poolish to the refrigerator to store it there for up to two days. It can also be used right away, but you’ll sacrifice flavor. (makes about 750 grams)

Ciabatta

1 small batch poolish (750 grams), at room temperature (recipe above)
1 1/3 leveled cups bread flour (200 grams)
1 3/4 teaspoons Salt (11 grams)
1 Teaspoon instant yeast (3 grams)

Place the room temperature poolish in the mixer bowl. Add the last three ingredients.

Using the flat beater, mix the ingredients for 4-6 minutes starting on the lowest speed, mixing until the flour is moistened, then move to the next-to lowest speed to finish. Remove and clean the flat beater. The dough will be very sticky.

Insert dough hook. Using the knead speed, continue kneading for 2 - 3 minutes longer. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl and clear the sides. If it does not, adjust with small amounts of flour or water until it does.

Turn the dough onto a bed of flour about 10x12 inches and sprinkle the top with flour. Coat your hands with flour.

Pat and stretch the dough into a rectangle about 8 inches wide and 10 inches long. Rest the dough for a few minutes.

Stretch the long sides of the rectangle out until the dough is about double in length then fold it in from each end to the middle so that you have three layers of roughly equal size.

Spray the dough with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.

After the rest, the dough will enlarge slightly. Rotate the rested dough 90 degrees then stretch and fold it again as before, folding what was previously the edge layers visible in toward the middle. Handle gently to preserve the gas bubbles that have formed.

Spray the dough with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Proof for 60-90 minutes until the dough doubles in bulk. As always, proofing times vary with kitchen temperature and the amount of yeast added.

When the dough has risen, prepare a couche or other cloth to receive the dough by dusting and rubbing it with flour.

Divide the dough in half using a dough scraper or slicing knife that has been dipped in water producing two squarish pieces.
One last fold is in order before placing the dough into the couche. The dough will be fragile. Gentle handling will preserve the most gas and produce the signature holes in the finished loaf.

Place the loaves on the couche gently stretching to elongate them as you move them. Space them apart about 8” - 10”.
Pull a ridge of cloth between the loaves, using the space you left between them, creating a wall of fabric. Bring the cloth on each end up to form another wall on the outside of each loaf.

Cover the tops of the dough with the ends of the couche, a towel or a large clean plastic bag to reduce drying.

Proof one final time for 60-90 minutes. As you begin the proof, place the baking stone in the oven and begin to preheat the oven to the highest available setting. (My oven is 550 F.)

Depending on your steam strategy, you should also put any needed equipment into the oven to pre-heat too. This may include a roaster pan, sheet pan, or other container of lava rocks.

When the loaves have proofed to nearly double in size, transfer them to a sheet of parchment paper about the same size as your baking stone. This is a delicate operation. Picking up the dough with anything that doesn’t support it’s entire length will likely deflate it.

A transfer board is ideal for this purpose. The board is floured and is placed next to the loaf.

The side of the couche is picked up and used to roll the dough onto its top. Moved the board and dough to the parchment paper roll the dough back onto its bottom resting on the paper. Repeat with the second loaf.

With the oven preheated use a peel or the back of a baking pan to move the dough to the baking stone. Get the steam going. As soon as the steam dies down (no visible vapor coming from the oven door) reduce the temperature to 425 º Fahrenheit.
At 5 minutes remove the parchment.

Bake 5 minutes more and rotate the loaves. The loaves will have begun to brown all over.

Another 8-10 minutes and the loaves should be finished baking, During this last baking period, you will have to watch closely. Resist the temptation to pull them out too soon, but don’t over-bake. The crust should be a deep redish brown in color.

Remove the loaves to a cooling rack and place a instant-read thermometer in the side of one of them. A temperature reading of 205-207 º Fahrenheit is ideal. If the loaf has not reached 205º, remove the thermometer and place both loaves back into the oven for a few minutes. Once the loaves are finished baking, leave the thermometer in the loaf so you’ll know when it has reached room temperature - then you can consume! Print this post