Italian Ciabatta Bread
Italian traditional slipper-shaped bread with high hydration and an open, airy crumb.
Ingredients
French bread flour (France) (for the levain)
250 g
Instant dry yeast (for the levain)
2 g
Water (for the levain)
110 ml
Salt (for the main dough)
5 g
Instant dry yeast (for the main dough)
2 g
Malt sugar (for the main dough)
1 g
Levain (using the above-made starter)
to taste
Water (for the main dough)
33 ml
Milk (for the main dough)
33 ml
Dusting flour and fat (greasing the bowl)
to taste each
Instructions
1
Make the levain
Place 2 g of instant dry yeast in a mixing bowl and stir with a whisk. In another mixing bowl, add 250 g of French bread flour and combine with the yeast. Stir with your fingers in a circular motion. Once the dough comes together into a single mass, transfer it to the work surface and rub off any dough stuck to your hands. Knead by stretching and folding while tearing the dough on the work surface. The dough itself is very stiff, so knead firmly, working until the dough is uniform in firmness throughout, then gather it into a ball. Grease the inside of the mixing bowl and ferment at 20–25°C for 15–20 hours.
2
Mix the main dough
Cut the fermented dough into small pieces with a bench scraper and place them in a bowl. In another bowl, add 33 ml of water and 1 g of malt sugar and dissolve, then add 33 ml of milk and stir to combine.
