P
Italian · Veneto, Italy
Ciabatta
The Italian 'slipper bread' — a high-hydration (75–80%), open-crumbed, flat wheat loaf with a thin, crispy crust and the characteristic large, irregular air pockets that make it simultaneously too airy to hold a sandwich without the filling falling through and too beautiful not to try — was invented in 1982 by baker Arnaldo Cavallari in Adria (Veneto) in direct response to the growing popularity of the French baguette threatening Italian bakery sales. The very high hydration means ciabatta dough is not kneaded in any conventional sense — it is folded, stretched, and coaxed into developing gluten through a series of stretch-and-fold cycles over 3–4 hours, producing a dough that never holds its shape during handling but achieves extraordinary alveolar development during the long fermentation. The paradox of ciabatta: the wetter the dough, the more difficult to handle, but also the more open and airy the final crumb.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the biga (overnight pre-ferment)
300 g
strong white bread flour
Origin · CanadaNot yet stocked in British Columbia
200 ml
water
room temperature
Your own market
0.5 g
instant dried yeast
a very small amount
Your own market
For the final dough
200 g
strong white bread flour
Origin · CanadaNot yet stocked in British Columbia
200 ml
water
room temperature
Your own market
5 g
instant dried yeast
Your own market
10 g
fine sea salt
Your own market
For dusting and handling
50 g
rice flour or strong white bread flour
for dusting the bench and peel generously
Origin · CanadaNot yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
The evening before baking, combine the biga flour, water, and the very small quantity of yeast in a bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains — the biga will be stiff and rough, not smooth. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 10–12 hours. It is ready when domed, laced with bubbles throughout, and carries a clean, mildly acidic smell.
2
Tear the biga into rough pieces and place in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Add the final dough flour, water, and yeast. Mix on low speed (or by hand with a dough whisk) until a rough, shaggy mass forms. Add the salt and continue mixing for 4–5 minutes until the dough is cohesive. It will be extremely wet and will not clear the sides of the bowl — this is correct. Total hydration is 75–80%; the dough should look almost pourable.
3
This is where the bread lives or dies. Over the first 2 hours of bulk fermentation, perform a stretch-and-fold cycle every 30 minutes — four cycles in total. For each cycle, wet the hand, reach under one side of the dough, stretch it upward as far as it will extend without tearing, and fold it over the centre; rotate the bowl 90° and repeat from each of the four sides. The dough must not be turned out, kneaded, or worked aggressively. By the fourth cycle, the dough will have gained perceptible tension — it will resist the stretch and begin to hold the folded shape momentarily before relaxing. Do not add flour at any point.
4
After the four stretch-and-fold cycles, leave the dough undisturbed for a further 2 hours of bulk fermentation, covered, at room temperature. It is ready when it has increased by at least 75% in volume, the surface is domed and trembling with internal gas, and the underside viewed through the bowl shows a clearly open, bubble-laced structure.
5
Place a baking stone or steel on the middle shelf and a shallow roasting tray on the shelf below. Preheat the oven to 240°C (conventional) for at least 45 minutes before baking. The stone must be thoroughly saturated with heat — a stone pulled from a cold oven will collapse oven spring immediately.
6
Dust the bench generously with flour. With a bench scraper, cut the bulk-fermented dough into two roughly equal pieces — one decisive cut per portion; do not saw or drag. Slide the scraper under each piece and invert it onto the floured surface so the smooth underside faces up. Dust the tops with flour. With floured hands, gently tug each piece into a rough rectangle approximately 25 cm × 12 cm — the flat, wide form is the natural consequence of the wet dough and is correct. Do not attempt to build height. Transfer immediately to a flour-dusted peel or baking paper. Allow to rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. The loaves are ready to bake when the surface is slightly dry to the touch and the dough has relaxed and spread fractionally wider.
7
Pour 200 ml of hot water into the preheated roasting tray to generate steam, then immediately slide the loaves onto the hot stone. Bake at 240°C for 20–25 minutes. Do not open the oven during the first 15 minutes. The loaves are done when the crust is a deep, even amber-gold, the base sounds hollow when rapped sharply with a knuckle, and the loaves feel very light for their size — the large interior air pockets have set and dried.
8
Transfer to a wire rack. Rest for a minimum of 20 minutes before slicing. The crust will crackle audibly as it cools and contracts — this is the thin crust releasing tension. Slicing too early collapses the still-setting crumb structure.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Baked from a long-fermented biga (10–12 hours) using a high-protein heritage wheat flour; baked on a professional deck oven with direct steam injection at 240°C; hydration at 80%. The crumb shows the characteristic large, irregular alveoli throughout; the crust is paper-thin and shatters on pressure.
02
Estate — Biga pre-ferment used; strong white bread flour at 75–78% hydration; baked on a thoroughly preheated baking stone with steam from a tray of boiling water. Open, irregular crumb with occasional very large holes; thin, crisp crust.
03
Market — Straight dough (no biga), 75% hydration; stretch-and-fold cycles observed; baked on a preheated stone or steel with steam. Crumb is open but the holes are more uniform and smaller; flavour is present but less complex than the biga version.
04
House — Straight dough, reduced hydration (70–75%), baked on a flat tray without steam. Crumb is noticeably tighter and more uniform; the thin crust characteristic is diminished. Still recognisable as ciabatta, but the defining open structure and crust shatter are substantially reduced.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. By the fourth stretch-and-fold cycle, the dough resists the stretch and momentarily holds the folded form before relaxing — gluten structure has developed sufficiently.
◇Sight. After bulk fermentation, the dough has increased by at least 75% in volume; the surface is domed and the underside through the bowl shows a clearly open, bubble-laced interior.
◇Touch. Portioned loaves are ready to load when the floured surface feels slightly dry and the dough has relaxed and spread marginally wider on the peel.
◇Sound. Baked loaves sound hollow when the base is rapped firmly with a knuckle; as they cool on the rack, the thin crust crackles audibly.
◇Where it lives or dies. Ciabatta's character is decided entirely during the stretch-and-fold phase: insufficient folding leaves the dough without the gluten network needed to contain the large gas pockets, while any addition of flour or aggressive handling at any point closes the crumb permanently.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year