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Ciabatta, The Very Lightest

Ciabatta, The Very Lightest — a community recipe on Potlikkr.

Ingredients

• Sponge
• 1.5 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1.0 cup Water
• 0.25 tsp Instant Yeast Dough Sponge

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Method (preview)

1. 1

   This bread begins with an overnight sponge, which means the finished loaf has just the barest of sour tangs. As the sponge ferments, it creates certain acids that not only give the bread flavor, but affect the gluten, making the bread chewier. The use of a sponge will also increase the loaf's shelf life.

2. 2

   Carol Field, in her wonderful book The Italian Baker, claims that this dough is one that simply can't be kneaded by hand; it's just too sticky. Keep this in mind when you're preparing the dough. During the winter you'll need to use the greater amount of water in the range indicated below. In the dog days of August, when your flour's been in a humid kitchen all summer, you'll use the lesser amount. Your goal is a dough that is very sticky, but holds its shape; when you scoop it out onto your work surface, it will settle into a flattened mound that is best approached with oiled hands and a bench knife or bowl scraper.