How to bake ciabatta at home

Ciabatta – Italian soft porous bread with a crispy crust. The secret of this baking – in a special dough. It is called Biga (biga), it's "steep brew" with long term fermentation. "Short" bigs put at least 10-12 hours before making the dough.

To bake ciabatta at home, do not need sophisticated technology and exotic ingredients. Prepare the foods.

For big
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 Cup of room temperature water (20-25oC)
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

For the test
- 3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups water at room temperature (20-25oC)
- 2 teaspoons of salt

Put the big. In the bowl of a mixer put the flour, pour in water, sprinkle the yeast and a nozzle hook, mix on low speed until the ingredients are completely combined into a single mass that'll take about 3 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 10-12 hours. Through this time of big should be sparkling, airy, bubbly.

Start kneading the dough. In the bowl of a mixer, sift together the flour and yeast. Add the water, Biga, salt and mix with a hook attachment on low speed for 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead until wet and soft dough, about 3 minutes.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise almost doubled, this will take approximately 30 minutes. Press the dough with your finger the dent should not be filled quickly. Fold the dough on themselves, rising edge, and gently push the center to release the gas. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and propylite flour. Hands salmon pryamougolnykh 20 to 30 centimeters and a thickness of 2.5 cm. Cut the dough into two equal rectangle, cover them with a clean kitchen towel and leave for 15-20 minutes. Carefully transfer the dough on the parchment covered baking pan. Gently stretch each rectangle to the size of 25 by 12 centimeters, again cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for another 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220оС. Bake the ciabatta until Golden brown about 25-30 minutes. The prepared baking seems hollow when you tap the crust. Lay out bread onto rack and allow to cool slightly. Never cut ciabatta immediately after baking, the cavity inside it will fall off. At home, this bread is often eaten with olive oil, cheese and olives.