make the night before
mix by hand or with mixer (mixer is easier. you may need to use you hands to get mixed thoroughly if not using mixer) It is very stick dough, like thick stretchy biscuits. You cannot knead it on the countertop by hand because it is too wet.
cover bowl and let rise about 2 hrs. After rising, use your hand or a silicone spatula to fold the dough over several times until deflated, then let rise again, about 1 hr. Deflate as before, dump on well-floured cookie sheet, divide into two loaves, shape into loaf-ish shapes, cover with well-floured towel or plastic wrap coated in Pam, let rise about 1/2 hr. Preheat oven to 500 last 15 min of rise. Uncover, put in bottom third of hot oven ~10 min, till just beginning to brown. Let out the heat, Turn down oven to 400, cook additional 10 min till dark brown (or however you like it, but it needs to cook at least 10 additional mins to finish baking.)
STOP READING HERE IF YOU JUST WANT TO GO MAKE BREAD WITHOUT STEPH’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE
These are approximately the directions from the book “No need to knead” I omitted directions like: "dissolve salt in 2T water before adding" & "dissolve yeast in water before adding flour”. These steps are useful, but not critical.
As you saw, you do not have to follow them exactly to get a good loaf. I thought ours were too wet, but I didn’t have any more flour to correct - and they still turned out okay. I also like my ciabatta dusted with flour for cooking - it keeps it really crusty. But the “Pam” worked fine, just made the crust softer.
Other examples:
* no rye? — use whole wheat, or just omit == excellent results!
* no time for overnight rise? -- start the starter in the morning for dinner loaf == good results!
* no time for second rise of the bread dough? — omit (i did this with out first loaf. our second loaf rose overnight in the fridge) Or, just let rise shorter duration == great results!
* blow it and forget to make bread with your starter? (i do this frequently) — put starter in fridge for up to a week (this actually makes for a SUPER yummy loaf == excellent results!) In fact, the dough can be tossed into the fridge too. That’s what i did with our second loaf. Just wrap it up well so it doesn’t dry out.
* I will often start a loaf-starter in the evening, make the dough before I go to work the next morning, put the whole thing in the fridge, fold it down when I get home (6-8 hrs later), shape, short rise, and bake.
Here are things I’ve found that lead to a bad loaf:
1. too much flour. if you can knead the loaf on the countertop, it is too dry. it will still be good bread, but it won’t be ciabatta
2. allowing it to rise too long, especially on final rise. this leads to “yeasty” flavored loaf. 1/2 hr is good for final rise, then into oven! it won’t look like it has done much, but it rises a lot in the first few mins of baking. sometimes I even go straight from shaping to oven without final rise and it turns out fine. I find shorter rises are safer than longer ones. If at any point you find you can’t complete the process through baking the bread, fold it down, wrap it up, and throw it in fridge. There’s always tomorrow for ciabatta!
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Serving Size: 1 Recipe (693g) | ||
Recipe Makes: 1 Serving | ||
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Calories: 1608 | ||
Calories from Fat: 73 (5%) | ||
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Amt Per Serving | % DV | |
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Total Fat 8.1g | 11 % | |
Saturated Fat 1.4g | 7 % | |
Monounsaturated Fat 1g | ||
Polyunsanturated Fat 3.5g | ||
Cholesterol 0mg | 0 % | |
Sodium 33.7mg | 1 % | |
Potassium 873.3mg | 23 % | |
Total Carbohydrate 328g | 96 % | |
Dietary Fiber 19.6g | 78 % | |
Sugars, other 308.4g | ||
Protein 54.3g | 78 % | |
Powered by: USDA Nutrition Database Disclaimer: Nutrition facts are derived from linked ingredients (shown at left in colored bullets) and may or may not be complete. Always consult a licensed nutritionist or doctor if you have a nutrition-related medical condition. |
Calories per serving: 1608
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