Activate your starter at least 4-6 hours before using it so it's at its peak. It's easier to use a stand mixer for this recipe, but you don't have to.
You will knead <---(cute) aluminum turkey roasting pans or something that will work as a lid to cover the ciabatta during the baking process.
A cast iron pan/lid to put water into during the baking process.
A pizza stone
A pizza peel
Some kind of weapon
Ingredients
For the BIGA
175g warm water
1/4 tsp of yeast
225g flour (I have used both AP and bread flour and got great results with both, but I would recommend bread flour with at least 11.7% protein).
Approx. 35-45g of your starter.
Mix them all together very well with no dry spots, it will look kind of dry. Put a loose lid on it. Let the biga sit for at least 6 hours, but I like to shoot for 24-36 hours, so plan accordingly.
When your biga has fermented to a point that you are satisfied, it's time to start the autolyse.
Ingredients
180g of warm water
250g of flour
Mix to combine and then put a towel over top and sit for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes, add
40g of warm water
5g of yeast
10g of salt
All the biga.
Mix on low speed so you don't blow up your kitchen, when it starts coming together, crank up the speed to high and hold your mixer, the centrifugal force will send your mixer on the floor (I learned this the hard way). Mix on high speed for about 5 minutes, you will know it's done when the bowl cleans itself and the dough will have a nice "sheen" on it.
Lubricate a bowl with olive oil and put the dough in the bowl, cover, and wait 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes it's time to do some stretch folding. You grab the dough in the bowl and pull it back on itself, rotate 90 degrees and do it again, etc, until you've done 4 folds (The dough should be silky smooth at this point in the process). Cover and wait another 30 minutes.
After 30 more minutes, spray your counter with water to make it slick, and place the dough on the countertop. Gently using your hands, spread the dough into a rectangle. Now do a "letter fold" (into thirds) and fold it over(left side to the middle, right side to the middle, pull top down to the middle and then the middle on top of the bottom making a seem on the bottom. Place the dough (seam side down) in the bowl, cover, and wait 1 hour.
Now carefully put the dough on a floured surface and gently manipulate it into a rectangle again. Cut down the middle creating two loaves. Put on floured parchment paper and cover once again for 30 minutes. (during this final proofing stage, don't let them sit on the countertop, put them on a cutting board, most countertops suck too much heat out of the dough and it affects the final product).
This is a good time to preheat your oven.
Heat oven to 500f/260c Put a cast iron lid on the bottom of the oven and have it preheat with the oven.
When the oven is preheated, place the ciabatta on a pizza stone (or upside-down baking sheet) cover it with a lid (I use aluminum turkey roasting pans) and then pour some ice chips into the cast iron lid and then close oven. This will create a lot of steam that will help form a good crust. Lower temp to 480f/248c. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove the lids and bake another 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and they sound "hollow" when you knock on them.
Set them on cooling rack for about 20-30 minutes and then cut them into slices. I like putting a light schmear of butter on the bread, then a nice drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, and light sprinkling of kosher salt and a touch of fresh cracked black pepper. Absolutely delicious! This is where that weapon comes into play, you will need it to fight other household members off so you can eat all the ciabatta yourself.
You will knead <---(cute) aluminum turkey roasting pans or something that will work as a lid to cover the ciabatta during the baking process.
A cast iron pan/lid to put water into during the baking process.
A pizza stone
A pizza peel
Some kind of weapon
Ingredients
For the BIGA
175g warm water
1/4 tsp of yeast
225g flour (I have used both AP and bread flour and got great results with both, but I would recommend bread flour with at least 11.7% protein).
Approx. 35-45g of your starter.
Mix them all together very well with no dry spots, it will look kind of dry. Put a loose lid on it. Let the biga sit for at least 6 hours, but I like to shoot for 24-36 hours, so plan accordingly.
When your biga has fermented to a point that you are satisfied, it's time to start the autolyse.
Ingredients
180g of warm water
250g of flour
Mix to combine and then put a towel over top and sit for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes, add
40g of warm water
5g of yeast
10g of salt
All the biga.
Mix on low speed so you don't blow up your kitchen, when it starts coming together, crank up the speed to high and hold your mixer, the centrifugal force will send your mixer on the floor (I learned this the hard way). Mix on high speed for about 5 minutes, you will know it's done when the bowl cleans itself and the dough will have a nice "sheen" on it.
Lubricate a bowl with olive oil and put the dough in the bowl, cover, and wait 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes it's time to do some stretch folding. You grab the dough in the bowl and pull it back on itself, rotate 90 degrees and do it again, etc, until you've done 4 folds (The dough should be silky smooth at this point in the process). Cover and wait another 30 minutes.
After 30 more minutes, spray your counter with water to make it slick, and place the dough on the countertop. Gently using your hands, spread the dough into a rectangle. Now do a "letter fold" (into thirds) and fold it over(left side to the middle, right side to the middle, pull top down to the middle and then the middle on top of the bottom making a seem on the bottom. Place the dough (seam side down) in the bowl, cover, and wait 1 hour.
Now carefully put the dough on a floured surface and gently manipulate it into a rectangle again. Cut down the middle creating two loaves. Put on floured parchment paper and cover once again for 30 minutes. (during this final proofing stage, don't let them sit on the countertop, put them on a cutting board, most countertops suck too much heat out of the dough and it affects the final product).
This is a good time to preheat your oven.
Heat oven to 500f/260c Put a cast iron lid on the bottom of the oven and have it preheat with the oven.
When the oven is preheated, place the ciabatta on a pizza stone (or upside-down baking sheet) cover it with a lid (I use aluminum turkey roasting pans) and then pour some ice chips into the cast iron lid and then close oven. This will create a lot of steam that will help form a good crust. Lower temp to 480f/248c. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove the lids and bake another 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and they sound "hollow" when you knock on them.
Set them on cooling rack for about 20-30 minutes and then cut them into slices. I like putting a light schmear of butter on the bread, then a nice drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, and light sprinkling of kosher salt and a touch of fresh cracked black pepper. Absolutely delicious! This is where that weapon comes into play, you will need it to fight other household members off so you can eat all the ciabatta yourself.
) what I do if I need a warmer environment (my kitchen is also cold) I turn the oven on the lowest temp, I think it's 170f and then I set the cook timer on the oven for about 3 minutes and it shuts itself off. The inside of the oven is "perfect" for putting my dough in there during parts of the recipe it calls for. You could also get a proof box from Amazon, but those seem like a waste of money and counter space.
