Ciabatta

(inspired from din The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking)

Ingredients(for 2 breads)
- 160g white wheat(T55 flour) starter, hydration 125%
- 357g white wheat flour (T55)
- 270g water
- 8g salt

Method

Starter:
- Put together 18g sourdough 100% hydration (I use a mix of flours to feed my
sourdough) + 40g water (around 25C) + 34g white wheat flour. Mix well and let it
stay about 8h la 21-23C(until next morning)
- Add 18 g water. Mix well. Add 14g white flour and mix well again. After 2-4h at
25C it is at its peak (it increases its volume about 2-3times)
- Add 22g water. Mix well. Add 13g white flour and mixx well again. After 1-2h, it is
again at its peak and I can use it
This steps are not mandatory. The idea is to have 160g sourdough, mature and fully
active.

Mix the dough – step 1:

- In a 4l bowl or so, mix the starter with 240g water, then add 357g faina alba. Mix
well, knead and make several SF(stretches&folds) directly in the bowl until the
dough is very well omogenized.

Autolyse:
- Cover the dough with plastic( I use several times a disposable plastic shower cap )
and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.

Mix the dough – step 2:

- Disolve 8g salt in 30g water. Pour it over the dough and knead well, by pinching
and squeezing the dough until the water and salt solution is fully incorporated. Make
some SF directly in the bowl and then use French kneading on the table, around 10
minutes, until the dough becomes smooth and elasitc and the gluten is well
developed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PvdtUR-XTG0

Prepare the dough for the bulk fermentation:

Grease a bowl with a little bit of oil, form the dough in a ball and move it to the
greased bowl

Bulk fermentation:
2 hours, with 1 SF, directly in the bowl. Wet your hand before the SF:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
feature=player_detailpage&v=LFja1ShZFsA#t=358
(starting with the minute 5:50)
Remark: if the dough is too weak and it doesn’t keep its shape, you can do more SF,
more often
Shape:
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces of about 350g each.
- Shape each of them into a rectangle like in Ciril’s movie

Proofing
- Put each rectangle on the couche, seam-side up
- Cover the dough and let it proof for 1h:30min

Prepare the oven:

- Turn on the oven and heat it to 250C, with the baking stone and the tray(used
to make steam) inside. The temperature in my oven can’t go higher than 230C.
It’s not perfect, but it’s OK 

Baking:
- When the dough is proofed and the oven hot enough, put some water to boil.
- Transfer the dough to the peel and then put it into the oven, directly on the
stone
- Pour the boiling water in the steam-tray
- After about 25min, when the bread starts to turn a little bit golden-brown,
take out the steam-tray and rotate the bread (my oven is not very...even. The
part of the bread that is closer to the oven-dour is not so brown like the other
part, so I turn the bread, to have an even colour and crust)
- Bake for about 10 mintues more (in my oven there are 200C now. Maybe a
higher temperature would need shorter times)
- Turn off the heat. Let the bread on the stone for a few minutes more, with the
oven door ajar

Remark: if the crust is too dry, let the steam inside for a longer time....