Sunday, December 30, 2012

Ciabatta , my new version


I have a version of this on the blog already with pictures,
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2010/06/oh-yes-you-can-live-on-bread-and-water.html
this is the new way I do what I do, no pics at the moment...

Ciabatta (my new version)

500 grams a/p flour
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (if you want)
squirt of olive oil (if you want it soft)
2 cups water

Dump it all in the bowl of the kitchenaid, with the paddle beater and high speed, let her rip until it starts to climb the paddle... you'll be able to see it climb even at high speed.  When it starts to climb the top portion stop the mixer and with a very wet hand, slide the goo off the paddle and switch to the dough hook.

On HIGH let it go until it completely clears the side of the bowl and isn't stuck at the bottom at all.  just let it go!  Do NOT add additional flour, give it up to 15 minutes...  seriously, it'll work.

Dump/pour the slimy, shiny, slick, STICKY, crazy, 'this is not going to be bread' dough mixture, you'll see what i mean, it's shiny and you can NOT touch it, into a vessel to rise.  I use a 6qt plastic container.  You HAVE to let this TRIPLE in volume.  It takes about 75 minutes for me.

I put the container in the oven with the light on.  It can take up to 2 hours.  I make a lot of bread and everyone thinks there's yeast in my air.

Anyway, when it's tripled, it'll be a gigantic jiggly breathing mass of goo... that's perfect!

Pour it onto a VERY well floured surface and with your fingertips stretch it to about 24 inches square and fold it in thirds like a letter.. I cut it at this point with a bench scraper into however many loaves I want.

Flip once and flour the tops of whatever you make.  cover with a towel and leave to relax about 45 minutes.

CRANK the oven to 475 and preheat a stone if you got it.

When the dough looks slightly risen and more wobbly than it was (there's not a lot of rise at this point) Transfer the dough in one quick motion (one loaf at a time) onto a peel with cornmeal or onto the back of a cookie sheet or onto some other transportation method and slide it into the oven.  Throw 4 ice cubes on the bottom of the oven and close the door.

Bake for EXACTLY 15 minutes, feel free to open and spin the loaf at 10 minutes.

Remove from oven onto rack.  Repeat with rest of loaves.

EAT!  Take to parties!  EAT!  ENJOY!!!

This stuff is killer good.
Here's some I made today

  

/enjoy

2 comments:

  1. Tracy, I live at 3,330 ft. In Idaho.what changes of any, do I need to make to your recipe . Thanks,Mabon in Idaho

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would you recommend any thing different for high elevation? Thanks

    ReplyDelete