How to Make Artisan Ciabatta Bread

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By Jami Delgado
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Artisan Ciabatta Bread is Crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside!

Tried and tried again to get the beautiful open crumb of an artisan Ciabatta bread, only to fail and fail again? There are many factors that contribute to how an artisan ciabatta bread will turn out. The key is trying to control as many of them as possible. Follow this detailed step by step instruction to get some great results!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

BIGA
278 g all-purpose flour (room temp)
126 g Whole Wheat flour (still cold from the freezer)
304 g tap water (about 75 degrees)
2 g instant yeast
FINAL DOUGH MIX
541 g All-purpose flour (room temp)
354 g cold water (reserve 66 g to add after gluten development)
All biga mix
16 g salt
1.5 g yeast
26 g olive oil

Step 1

The morning before you want to bake your artisan ciabbata bread, prepare the biga (a prefermented dough that will give your bread more complexity). Mix above biga ingredients in a glass or wooden bowl. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for 6 hours.
Step 2

Mix together your final dough using above ingredients (Remember, to leave out about 66 g of water to add later). These instructions are for a stand mixer, adjust times as necessary if you're mixing by hand. Mix for about 4 minutes to combine ingredients, then mix another 5 minutes on low speed until medium gluten development is achieved.
Step 3

Add reserved water into mix slowly to avoid it splashing out. Mix until just combined (Note: not all water may be absorbed. This is a very wet dough. DO NOT add any more flour!)
Step 4

Transfer dough to an oiled container and cover. If dough temperature seems to be cold (less than 76 degrees), leave out at room temperature for the folding. If dough is 78 degrees or more, place directly into refrigerator.
Step 5

Fold the dough at 45 minutes and again 90 minutes. This is done by gently lifting the dough from the middle to stretch it, then folding it into thirds like an envelope. Turn 45 degrees and repeat. You may want to re-oil your container after the second fold to avoid your dough sticking.
Step 6

After the second fold, retard (cool in refrigerator) for 10-14 hours.
Step 7

Remove from refrigerator the next morning and let stand at room temperature for about an hour.
Step 8

Make-shift couche

Gently, turn dough out onto a well floured surface taking care to degas as little as possible. Starting from the middle, gently stretch it into a rectangle about 2 cm thick. Again, try not to degas. Cut into three smaller rectangles. Place them on a well-floured linen (flour side down) about 2-3 inches apart. Pleat between the loaves and support the ends with rolled up newspaper or dishtowels (This is a make-shift couche. If you have a couche, use it!). Allow to sit on counter for 1.5 - 2 hours for proofing. (Alternately, you may retard for 2 hours, then do 1 hour at room temp).
Step 9

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Place a baking stone in the oven to preheat as well. Place an old pan on the bottom of the oven close to the front. About 10 minutes before baking, spray the inside of the oven with a spray bottle and put some water on to boil.
Step 10

Note: I don't have a baking stone, so I used a pizza pan.

Carefully transfer the loaves onto floured parchment. Do this by holding the edge of the couche taut at gently flipping the loaf onto the parchment.
Step 11

Quickly slide the parchment onto the baking stone and pour about 1 cup of boiling water in the bottom pan. You may also want to spray again. Turn the oven down to 450 degrees. Bake for 8 minutes with the steam.
Step 12

Beautiful crust!

Remove the bottom pan and bake another 20 minutes without steam, or until crust is golden brown. Crack door of oven and leave the bread in another 10 minutes with the oven off. Cool on wire racks. Do not cut until completely cooled (if you can help it).