I finally took the plunge and bought the stand mixer. Yes, after almost a decade of baking I finally gave in because of the number of breads I had been baking. The first bread I tried in the mixer was this ciabatta bread and the dough is one of the stickiest ones I have ever dealt with. Wonder how people made this bread before the stand mixer. I read about how the dough was slapped on the counter or something of that sort and I have no clue how. Prepare yourself for the sticky dough and try as much as possible to not touch the dough with your hands. Use a scraper and if you have two of them, the better. The loaves when going into the oven looked just like very thick pancake batter. My hopes were pretty low, but I was completely taken back when it sprung nicely in the oven in the first few minutes and also developed this lovely crust later.
If you notice, you will see that each piece has a different crumb. They are unique and the bread is really one of a kind. It is tough and crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Overall the family loved it and I will be making this often. Recipe from here.
Quick Ciabatta Bread
Ciabatta bread.
Ingredients:
- bread flour - 500 gm (about 3 3/4 to 4 cups)
- yeast - 2 tsp
- salt - 1 tsp (original recipe calls for 15 gm)
- water - 2 cups
Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer until combined. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Then knead for about 20 - 30 minutes until it forms a ball. The dough will start slapping the sides and then will form a ball. The dough will be extremely sticky.
Place dough in an oiled bowl and allow to TRIPLE in size.
Spread your work surface with lots of flour and transfer the dough to it. You are basically pouring the dough :). Divide into 3 or 4 pieces and gently press the pieces. Spray with oil and dust with flour. Allow to rise for about 45 minutes. The dough will not rise a whole bunch and will just appear a bit puffed up.
Preheat oven to 500F. If you have a pizza stone place it in while preheating. Pick each loaf piece and flip them upside down and onto a parchment lined peel or heavily floured peel. Try to do this quickly and gently. (I lined a baking sheet with parchment and placed the loaf and then let the parchment paper along with the loaf to slide onto the stone.)
Turn down the temperature to 450F and bake for about 15 - 20 min until the loaf is nicely browned. The bread gets a nice spring in the oven. Cool on wire racks.
1. Avoid the frustration by not touching the dough at all. Use the scraper at all times. Having two scrapers help a lot.
2. While flipping and transferring the loaf to the parchment, it might look like you completely messed it up. No worries, the dough springs nicely in the oven.
3. I baked them two at a time in two batches. Before placing the second set of loaves, I preheated again to 500F and then reduced it to 450F.
4. I did not brush the loaf with anything, but the color was still perfect.
5. Do not skimp on the flour at any time. The dough is really really wet.
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Pictorial
1. Take all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix till combined. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.2. After 10 minutes. The dough still looks gooey and sticky.3. Start kneading the dough until it forms a ball. This might take about 20 - 30 min. The dough will begin to slap the sides of the bowl first and then will start forming a ball. The dough will be VERY sticky.4. Place in an oiled bowl and allow to rise until TRIPLED in volume.5. Dough has risen. 6. Grease your work surface with flour (lots of it). Pour the dough on the work surface. 7. Divide into 3 or 4 pieces. Spray with oil and dust with flour.8. Press down each piece slightly. Allow to rise again for about 45 minutes. The dough will not rise a lot. It will just look puffed up a bit.9. Preheat oven to 500F. If you have a pizza stone place it in while preheating. Pick each loaf piece and flip them upside down and onto a parchment lined baking sheet or peel. Reduce temperature to 450F and place the loaf along with the parchment paper in the oven. Bake for 15 - 20 min until the loaf is nicely browned.10. The bread gets a nice spring in the oven. Out of the oven. Allow to cool on wire racks.
Yummy bread.
Enjoy!
Linking to Bake Fest #25.
Vardhini, this looks just perfect.. love the pores in the bread. exactly as a ciabatta should be.. well done!
That looks just perfect- will have to try this soon