Sourdough Ciabatta

There is a common misconception among bread eaters and even some bakers about sourdough being a style of bread (generally a grainy/ crusty batard). Even when they accept that sourdough refers to the fermentation and not the bread style, they struggle to get their heads around the fact that a ciabatta can also be sourdough (BTW a croissant can also be made with a sourdough fermentation). So to make sure there is no confusion, this recipe is for SOURDOUGH Ciabatta.

Sourdough Ciabatta

Ciabatta Bread Style

As expected, Wikipedia has a good, short definition of ciabatta. To make a ciabatta, one uses significantly more liquid than with a standard loaf of bread which makes the dough hard to work with (and also creates the large bubbles in the crumb). For this reason we recommend you first master the Noah's Ark Sourdough Recipe which will also give you plenty of practice with making the Standard Preferment.

An interesting bit of trivia is that ciabatta is the Italian word for slipper - the shape of the loaf.

Recipe Steps

Note that this recipe was developed using the preferment made on the Standard Preferment page so the conditions and timings can be used together as a complete recipe example.

16:00 - Mixing (Autolyse)

1. Add Flour and Water to Bowl

In a separate mixing bowl (from the preferment) pour the following:

  • 3.5 cups white bread flour
  • 2 cups water

Note that we don't want this dough to ferment so try to use a bowl and utensils that are free from any residual sourdough (even old, dry flakes of dough)

2. Mix Autolyse

This process will be easier than other lower hydration recipes as the relative increase of water means the flour gets wet faster.

21:00 - Preferment Ready

3. Main Dough Fully Autolysed

Although it didn't require as long as this, the dough has had 5 hours to autolyse. Because this process is far less temperature dependant, it's a good idea to keep this to around 3-4 hours.

In this batch, as much as I tried to keep all possible sources of sourdough away from the dough, there are still a few bubbles in this dough. Had I left this overnight, it's likely it would have fermented and lost structure (which one can ill afford with a ciabatta)

4. Combine Autolyse & Preferment

I find that this step is always a little messy and apparently sticky. For some reason, even though both the doughs have had many hours to develop, after mixing they still further develop structure (provided you don't add fats or salt). I think of it as the doughs "melding". In the past this "rest" I used to mistakenly call "autolyse" but I now reserve that term exclusively for the 3hr+ rest of the main dough before combining at this stage.

23:00 - Complete Main Dough

5. Add Oil and Salt

I usually do this 1 hour after the previous step. This time I did it two hours afterwards partly because I only remembered just before bed. Because it was cold, it didn't affect the dough but in warmer conditions I find that the fermentation runs away and can cause the structure to break down (salt slows the fermentation so the fermentation happens at the highest rate before this step)

Because the flour is relatively less than the Noah's Ark recipe (5.5 cups vs 7 cups) I slightly reduce my salt content. My fat content I elevate to get the silky crumb that I like with a ciabatta:

  • 1.75 teaspoons salt
  • 2.5 tablespoons of olive oil

Note that because it was late, I refrigerated immediately after mixing

+24hrs - Fridge Retarded Fermentation

6. Remove from Fridge for Fermentation, Stretch and Fold

So working with your fridge to achieve the right degree of fermentation is a combination of rules of thumb and visual/ tactile judgement.

What I aim for is to achieve about 60% of peak activity relative to my preferment. So if my preferment took 10 hours to reach peak activity I need 6 hours of fermentation.

Another rule of thumb is that when my dough is above 22 deg, it ferments for roughly 1 hour after I place it in the fridge. Because I needed roughly 7 hours of fermentation time I took this out the fridge for approximately 3 hours and then stretched and folded

Note that although with this particular batch I took it out the fridge a few times, normally what I'll do is let the main dough ferment for 3 hours after step 5 and then put it in the fridge which adds an hour of fermentation. This generally is sufficient to complete the bulk fermentation time.

14:00 - Bulk Ferment Complete (+18hrs - Extra Fridge Retarded Fermentation)

7. Warm and Prove Dough

Remove the dough from the fridge, stretch and fold and allow to warm and prove. Depending on the ambient temperature and how much the dough has fermented in the fridge this could take 2-4 hours.

Since with ciabatta, I don't prove loaves after shaping, I let the dough prove in the bowl past the point I would with other doughs. If you refer to photos in other steps, you can see that the dough has roughly doubled in volume. Also the dough is light and fluffy at this stage so I judged it ready to go.

8. Preheat Oven, Shape Loaves

Because I barely squeeze out any bubbles, I aim to bake ASAP and so I turn my oven to preheat (230 deg C) just before I start this process.

When it comes to shaping, I don't claim any mastery of this step and I'm happy to replace this with a more elegant technique should you have one.

As I mention in the video, I often incorporate raw flour into my loaves which makes for terrible eating. Fortunately I managed to avoid it this time but I would recommend watching other videos on shaping ciabatta loaves.

Note that before I slid my loaves onto the baking sheet, I rubbed it with cooking oil to prevent the dough from sticking

+15mins - Time to Bake

9. Don't Get Scared

I can't tell you how many times I've looked at my formless dough and thought it was a dead-loss. This time was no exception. I do feel that in this batch I probably over shot the ideal fermentation time by 30-45 min as my one loaf was just starting to lose structure.

These are pretty good though and quite typical of the loaves before baking

10. Bake Slightly Shorter than Noah's Ark

As with the salt content, the baking time reduces because there is less flour in these loaves.

I bake according to colour and my baking timing is typically:

  • 20 min @ 230 deg (rotate loaves)
  • 20 min @ 210 deg

If required I'll flip loaves over so underside faces top of oven and then:

  • Additional 5 min @ 210 deg

+45mins - Baking Complete

11. Cool Before Eating

Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 mins (1 hour is preferable)

Note the colour on the loaves - dark brown with small patches of charring. This is what I watch when baking rather than the time