Breads (Sourdough) - Open Crumb

Sourdough Ciabatta

April 08, 2020 | Recipe by Bake with Paws
Sourdough Ciabatta

Sourdough Ciabatta


Scroll to the bottom of the page for "PRINT RECIPE" ⬇

I enjoy exploring and finding different ways to make Ciabatta as my hubby absolutely loves Ciabatta.  There has been a lot of recipes shared online recently, so I took the opportunity to study them.  This recipe is adapted from Maya @xbaker with slightly modification.  I love her recipe and turned out quite good.  

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible.  Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.

How To Make Sourdough Ciabatta  


Yields:  4 Small Loaves

INGREDIENTS

180g Granoro Farina "OO" flour - 60%
120g bread flour (I used Japanese high gluten flour) - 40%
75g active sourdough starter/levain (100% hydration) – 25%
240g water - 82.2% (final hydration)
6g salt - 2% 
6g olive oil - 2%
  • Please refresh  your starter several times before baking day in order to get a better result if you do not feed your starter daily or regularly.
  • Please reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go as each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently. 
Ambient Temperature:  approx. 27C - 28C

METHOD:
  1. Feed starter -  Feed your starter at the ratio that fit your schedule as long as the starter is at its peak when use.    Please refresh  your starter several times before baking day in order to get a better result if you do not feed your starter daily or regularly.
  2. Autolyse Mix flour and water, stir until there is no more dry flour with a spatula.  Or use a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes at low speed.  Cover and leave for 1 - 2 hours at room temperature (28C).   I did this when I woke up while waiting for the starter to get peak about 1 hour - 2 hours. 
  3. Add In Levain, Salt & Olive Oil - 
    1. Add in levain and salt. Mix with paddle attachment for about 3 - 4 minutes at speed 2 (KA mixer) and slowly turn to speed 4 or until the dough turns smooth, comes together and away from the sides of the bowl.
    2. Add in olive oil and mix for another minute.  You should reach window pane stage at this time.
    3. Transfer the dough into a greased dish.  Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
  4. Coil Folds:
    1. Coil Fold 1 -  Fold the dough in the dish.  Cover and rest for about 45 minutes.
    2. Coil Fold 2 -  Fold the dough in the dish.  Cover and rest for about 45 minutes.  
    3. Coil Fold 3 -  Fold the dough in the dish.  Cover and rest for about 60 minutes or until the dough double in size. 
  5. Cold Retard - Then retard overnight in the fridge (4C) for 12 - 16 hours.  
  6. Shaping - 
    1. Transfer to a heavy floured counter top.  Dust the dough with some flour and cut into 2 or 4 equal portions with a scrapper. 
    2. Transfer dough to a parchment paper with 2 scrappers. Let the dough proof on the couche for another 30 - 45 minutes or until puff up in room temperature.
  7.  Baking -  
    1. Preheat oven with baking stone and lava rocks (below the baking stone) at 250C (top and bottom heat) for 60 minutes before baking.  
    2. Open the oven door, slide dough (together with parchment paper) on baking stone. 
    3. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the lava stone.  Close the oven door immediately.  Too much hot water will create excess steam and this may result in a crust that is too hard.
    4. Bake with steam for 10 minutes.  
    5. Remove the lava rocks. 
    6. Lower the temperature to 210C (fan-forced) and continue baking for another  8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown.
    7. Remove ciabatta from oven. Let it cool on the rack.





GENERAL NOTES:

BAKING
Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

HYDRATION
The liquid measurement given is also a guide.  It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go.  This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency.  This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently. 

SOURDOUGH STARTER

A healthy starter is very crucial as advised by Baking with Gina.   It is advisable to feed your starter regularly if you want your bread to rise nicely and to use the starter (levain) at its peak.  A starter that is fed regularly will be more active in general.  If the mother starter is not strong, the bread dough will not rise a lot even though the starter is used at its peak.  

There are so many ways and methods of how to maintain the starter.  Below is my method of starter maintenance.  This is just for your reference. Please try and find a way or schedule that works best for you.

I bake almost everyday.  So, my starter is left at room temperature and I feed it twice a day  at its peak when it is tripled.  

Example
10.00 am - at ratio 1:10:10 at room temperature 27C - 28C
9.00 pm - at ratio 1:10:10 at room temperature 25C - 26C 

I feed a very small amount of 1g starter + 10g water + 10g flour if I am not baking, so that I will not end up with too much discard.  When I bake, I feed the starter accordingly to make up the quantity required by the recipe to be baked. If I know that I won't be baking for a few days, I will then feed it only once a day at 1:1:1, transfer to the fridge when it is doubled, and feed again 24 hours later.

If you do not bake daily or if you bake perhaps once or twice a week, then you may place your starter in the fridge and feed once a week.  But, you will need to refresh your starter around 2 days before the baking day. There is no way around this, sourdough baking takes planning! 

How I judge my starter is healthy?  My starter usually tripled in size (or at least double) in within 3 - 4 hours at room temperature (27C - 28C) for feeding ratio of (1:1:1 = starter:water:flour)

When is a starter at its peak?  My sourdough starter is usually at its peak when it is tripled in the jar. The surface of my starter looks bubbling and uneven.  The starter will not collapse when you tap the jar.  If the starter falls it means it has already past its peak.  It usually stays at its peak within 30 - 60 minutes before it starts to reduce/fall.  

Why use starter at its peak?  This is when the starter is most active and it will result in a better rise for your bread in general.  By the way, you can use when it is doubled/before its peak too.  But, not it starts to fall.


ARCHIVE RECIPE

Recipe - Sourdough Ciabatta  (Same Day Bake)

Yields:  2 Loaves (10" X 5")

Total flour:  397.5g
Total hydration: 77% and 80%

INGREDIENTS:

Levain (245g):
35g sourdough starter 
105g bread flour
105g water

Ciabatta Dough:
275g bread flour (I used Japanese high gluten flour) 
182g water (77% total hydration) or 196g (80% total hydration)
8g salt 
10g olive oil

Ambient Temperature:  27C - 28C

METHOD:
  1. Levain - Mix all of the ingredients for Poolish.  Cover and leave for a maximum of 12 hours or when tripled in size at room temperature.  I prepared the night before at 11.00 pm and used it the next morning at 9.00 am. I let it sit in an air-conditioned room (25C - 26C) as I live in tropical country.
  2. Autolyse - Mix flour and water, stir until there is no more dry flour with a spatula.  Or use a stand mixer with paddle attachment for about 2 minutes at low speed.  Cover and leave for 1 hour.  After 1 hour, the gluten has formed.
  3. Add Levain - After one hour, add in all levain, salt and olive oil into the autolyse dough. Mix with paddle attachment for about 5 - 6 minutes at medium speed until the dough turns smooth, comes together and away from the sides of the bowl.
  4. Transfer the dough into a greased dish.  Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
  5. Stretch and Fold (S&F)  - Do one round of S&F.  Please see the diagram.  Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
  6. Coil Fold:
    1. Coil Fold 1 – Please watch the video here. Cover and rest for 60 minutes.
    2. Coil Fold 2 - Repeat the same.  Cover and rest for 60 minutes.  
  7. Shaping:
    1. After 60 minutes, the dough would have risen.  Transfer to a heavy floured counter top.  Dust the dough with some flour and try to shape the dough into a square shape with a scrapper and cut into 2 equal portions.
    2. Transfer dough to the parchment papers (12" X 9") with scrapper.   Let the dough proof on the couche for another 60 minutes.
  8. Baking:
    1. Preheat the oven together with the baking stone and baking tray below at 250C (fan-forced) for 30 minutes.
    2. Slide the dough onto the preheated baking stone and then pour some boiling water into a preheated baking tray on the shelf below. Then spray water on the walls of oven and on the dough.
    3. Lower the temperature to 230C (fan-forced) and bake for 10 minutes with steam. Rotate the half way to make sure the top is evenly baked.   
    4. Remove the water tray if there is any access water and lower to 210C.  Then continue baking for another 15 minutes or until golden brown without steam.
    5. Remove ciabatta from oven. Let it cool on rack completely before slicing.

GENERAL NOTES

SOURDOUGH STARTER


A healthy starter is very crucial as advised by Baking with Gina.   It is advisable to feed your starter regularly if you want your bread to rise nicely and to use the starter (levain) at its peak.  A starter that is fed regularly will be more active in general.  If the mother starter is not strong, the bread dough will not rise a lot even though the starter is used at its peak.  


HYDRATION

The liquid measurement given is also a guide.  It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go.  This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency.  This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently. 

Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Actually, they are the same thing here. In sourdough baking, we call it levain. Poolish can be using commercial yeast too. I just followed from the origin recipe. I think I should change it to levain to avoid confusion.

      Delete
    2. Can bake at 220 degree celsius as my oven temperature the higher is 220 degree celsius Thanks!

      Delete
    3. Hi, I think should be ok. Please adjust accordingly to your oven temperature.
      Cheers:)

      Delete
  2. my dough turn out to be a bit soft, how to rescue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thank you for trying. Ciabatta dough supposed to be soft.

      Cheers :)

      Delete
  3. i tried again the 2and time
    but my sourdough ciabatta taste very sour, may I know how to make it less sour

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for trying again.

      Please visit this link and try to understand the tips to make sourdough bread less sour.

      https://traditionalcookingschool.com/fermenting-and-culturing/sourdough/6-tips-to-prevent-sour-sourdough/

      Cheers :)

      Delete
  4. Hi! When baking, the oven fan should it be on or off?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, it is top and bottom heat. Not fan-forced.
      Cheers :)

      Delete
  5. Hi,

    Thank you for sharing the recipe and the tips. I find it very useful, will give it a try tomorrow. My kitchen temperature is between 28-31degree celcius. Would shorten the resting time to 30 mins each be enough?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for reading this recipe. Please watch your dough and not the clock ya. Happy baking:)

      Delete
  6. Hi there, thanks for all the lovely recipes and useful tips. I have tried a couple of your recipes and they all turned out really well.. would like to ask, can I back the ciabatta in Dutch oven? Or just create steam on the preheated oven pan will do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for trying my recipes and your kind feedback. You can bake in Dutch oven if your dutch oven is very big and can fit in all. Otherwise just create the steam in oven.

      Cheers :)

      Delete
  7. Hi, I want to ask, how to you calculate Final Hydration %?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Final hydration is total hydration too. Total of water divided by total flour. Included flour and water from the levain too. Levain contain 50% flour and 50% water.

      I hope my explanation is clear.

      Cheers :)

      Delete
  8. Hi, your same day sourdough ciabatta recipe is not on the website.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Thank you for visiting. Sorry, I was cleaning up the old recipe and I thought the new recipe is better than the old one so I removed it. However, I just placed it back under Archive Recipe. Please scroll down to the bottom.

      Cheers:)

      Delete
  9. It turned out perfect today I will try it with whole wheat flour I wanted to ask when you pour the dough before baking do you fold
    Thanks frind

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for trying. I didn't fold before baking. You can refer to Step 6 (Shaping) on the above method.

      Cheers :)

      Delete

Post a Comment