Food Processor Ciabatta

CIABATTA

Steps:

• If making the bread in a stand mixer: Stir the yeast into the milk in a mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the water, oil, and biga (be sure to weigh the biga, don't just measure it by volume) and mix with the paddle until blended. Mix the flour (be sure to weigh the flour, don't just measure it by volume) and salt, add to the bowl, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. Change to the dough hook and knead for 2 minutes at low speed, then 2 minutes at medium speed. The dough will be very sticky. Knead briefly on a well-floured surface, adding as little flour as possible, until the dough is still sticky but beginning to show evidence of being velvety, supple, springy, and moist. (If the dough seems almost impossibly sticky to work with, reread the headnote above from author Carol Field.) If making the bread in a food processor: Stir the yeast into the milk in a large bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of cold water, the oil, and the biga (be sure to weigh the biga, don't just measure it by volume) and mix, squeezing the biga between your fingers to break it up. Place the flour (be sure to weigh the flour, don't just measure it by volume) and salt in the food processor fitted with the dough blade and pulse several times to sift the ingredients. With the machine running, pour the biga mixture through the feed tube and process until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. Process about 45 seconds longer to knead. Finish kneading on a well-floured surface until the dough is still sticky but beginning to show signs of being velvety, supple, moist, and springy. (If the dough seems almost impossibly sticky to work with, reread the headnote above from author Carol Field.)
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 1/4 hours. The dough should be full of air bubbles, supple, elastic, and sticky.
• Turn the dough onto a generously floured surface and cut it into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a cylinder, then stretch each cylinder into a rectangle about 10 by 4 inches, pulling with your fingers to get each portion of dough long and wide enough.
• Generously flour 4 pieces of parchment paper placed on peels or upside-down baking sheets. Place each loaf, seam side up, on a piece of parchment. Dimple the loaves vigorously with your fingertips or knuckles so that they won't rise too much. The dough will look heavily pockmarked, but it is very resilient, so don't be concerned.
• Cover the loaves loosely with damp towels and let rise until puffy but not doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The loaves will look flat and definitely unpromising, but rest assured that they will rise more in the oven.
• About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and slide 2 baking stones on the center rack to heat. [Editor's Note: If, like us, you haven't yet bought yourself a baking stone, flip some large cast-iron skillets upside down and bake the bread on their bottoms. It ought to do the trick. It has for us.]
• Just before baking the bread, sprinkle the stones with cornmeal. Carefully invert each loaf onto a stone. If the dough sticks a bit to the parchment, just gently work it free from the paper. If you need to, you can leave the paper on and remove it 10 minutes into baking.
• Bake the ciabatta for a total of 20 to 25 minutes, spraying the oven 3 times with water in the first 10 minutes. Transfer the loaves to wire racks to cool.

CLASSIC CIABATTA

Steps:

• To make the starter, stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the tepid water. Then add the flour, a cup at a time.
• Beat by hand, in an electric mixer or in a food processor, to form a sticky dough. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a cool place to rise until tripled in volume, 6 to 24 hours. Starter can be made in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.
• To make the dough, mix yeast with warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set aside 10 minutes.
• Add oil and the prepared starter and a little of the tepid water. Start mixing at very slow speed, adding the rest of the tepid water gradually until these ingredients are well blended. Mix flour with salt, add them, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Attach a dough hook to the mixer and mix for 2 minutes at slow speed, then 2 minutes at medium speed. Scoop the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly. The dough should be very moist and elastic.
• Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The dough should still be sticky but full of air bubbles.
• Place dough on a well-floured work surface and cut into four equal portions. Roll each into a cylinder, then stretch the cylinders into rectangles about 4 by 10 inches.
• If you can bake the bread on stones, generously flour four pieces of parchment paper and place each shaped loaf on a sheet of the paper, seam side up. Otherwise, oil a baking sheet, dust it with flour and cornmeal and place the loaves on the baking sheet. Cover loosely with damp tea towels and allow to rise about 2 hours, until doubled.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees with a baking stone in it if you have one. Dust the stone with cornmeal. Gently roll the breads from the parchment onto the stone so the seam is down and the floured side is up. Otherwise, simply place the baking sheet with the breads in the oven. Bake until the breads are golden brown, about 30 minutes, spraying them with water a few times during the first 10 minutes. Cool on racks.

FOOD-PROCESSOR CIABATTA

Steps:

• Combine flour with salt and yeast in a food processor fitted with a plastic blade. Pulse a few times to mix.
• With the machine running, pour in the olive oil, then all but about 2 tablespoons of the water into the food tube. Mixture should not be stiff enough to be gathered into a ball, nor should it be runny like a batter. It should be elastic and resilient, about the consistency of melted mozzarella cheese. Add a little more water if it is too stiff.
• The dough can be left to rise in the food processor. Replace the cylinder to close the feed tube. Or transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise.
• Allow the dough to rise at least three hours. It can be left to rise as long as 24 hours.
• Oil a nonstick baking sheet and dust it with flour or cornmeal. Using a spatula, scrape the dough out of the food processor or bowl and onto the baking sheet, allowing it to fall in an oval shape about twice as long as it is wide. Pile the dough so it mounds up to about 2 inches high in the middle. Set aside to rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Alternately, the dough can be piled into an oiled, floured, nonstick pie or cake pan, 8 inches in diameter.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Dust the top of the bread lightly with flour. Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

CIABATTA

Steps:

• Starter: Also called pre-ferment, levain, or poolish (which contains commercial yeast, as in this starter), this is the leavening or rising component of the bread. Turn on a digital scale and weigh your empty container. Deduct the weight of the container by pressing the "tare" function, which resets the scale to zero. Add water to the container and add the pinch of yeast. Tare to zero again, and add the correct amount of flour to the water and yeast. Use a chopstick to stir the starter until the dry and wet ingredients are just mixed. Cover the container with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature, away from direct sunlight, for 10-16 hours, but optimally 12 hours
• Dough: Place an empty container or bowl onto the digital scale and tare to zero; add water to measure by weight. Pour some of the water into the starter (poolish) and use a rubber spatula to loosen the mass around the edges. Empty contents into a bowl and use the spatula to combine with the remaining water so there are fewer lumps. Stir in honey and olive oil, then stir in yeast. Add flour and salt. Using a wooden spoon, and starting in the middle of the bowl, slowly stir to the edges until most of the flour has been mixed in and hydrated. Dough will be thin and soupy. Stir vigorously with the wooden spoon to bind the dough and bring it together, 1 minute. Pour the dough (which will now have the texture of thick pancake batter) into a bowl coated with nonstick spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature, 45 minutes.
• First Stretch and Fold: Combine 1 part fine semolina with 5 parts unbleached white flour to make dusting flour, and generously dust the work surface, a plastic bench scraper, and your hands. Using the scraper, release the batter/soupy dough from the bowl and onto the prepared work surface. Dust the dough with more dusting flour. Use the scraper to stretch the dough by going under it and gently pulling out. Repeat this around the edges of the dough until the mass is the shape of a loose rectangle. Starting at one end and using the scraper under the dough, roll the dough like a tube, about 3-4 times around. Flip the dough so it's seam-side up, and flatten again to a rectangle so the seam stretches left to right. Repeat rolling, returning to a seam-up position. This fold may be difficult as the batter is still soupy, but it should have enough stretch to be manageable. Use the scraper to tuck the sides under, toward the center of the dough, and then quickly and gently place the dough seam-side down in a bowl coated again with nonstick spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature, 45 minutes.
• Additional Stretching and Folding: This technique strengthens the dough by folding it over onto itself. This process is repeated 3 times, with a resting period after each stretch and fold. Generously dust the work surface, a plastic bench scraper, and your hands with dusting flour. Using the scraper, release the dough from the bowl (it will still be soupy, but firmer than before) and onto the prepared work surface. Dust the dough with more dusting flour. Use the scraper to stretch the dough by going under it and gently pulling out. Repeat this around the edges of the dough until it's in a loose rectangle. Fold dough in thirds, like a letter, then do the same fold in the other direction. Place the dough back in the bowl coated with nonstick spray, cover with plastic, and let rest at room temperature, 45 minutes. For the third stretch and fold, repeat the steps for the second stretch and fold. Cover with plastic coated with nonstick spray and let rest at room temperature, 45 minutes. For the fourth and final stretch and fold, you will not need as much flour and the dough will be easier to work with. Repeat the steps, but press down on the dough to de-gas slightly before folding. Place dough back in the bowl coated with nonstick spray. Cover with plastic coated with nonstick spray and let rest 30 minutes. Transfer bowl to the refrigerator and chill 12-18 hours.
• Shaping/Fermentation (Proofing): Shape the dough to prepare it for baking, then ferment (proof) it for a period of time to expand the dough and develop flavor. Generously dust the work surface, a wooden board for proofing the dough, a plastic bench scraper, your hands, and the top of the dough with dusting flour. Using the scraper, release the dough from the bowl. Dust the dough and gently stretch it into a square shape, being careful not to let any gas escape. The dough will also spread on its own immediately after it's laid out on the surface. Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. (Alternatively, you can cut the dough into smaller pieces, making smaller ciabattas.) Place on the wooden board and gently coax each piece into a rough rectangle. Spray plastic wrap with nonstick spray and lay it over the loaves. Let the dough rest at room temperature until the loaves have doubled in size, 1½-3 hours.
• Preheating Oven/Baking: Heat the cast-iron skillet while the oven is preheating. By filling the skillet with ice just prior to baking, you will create an optimal environment to steam the bread, resulting in a crispy crust and tender interior. Place cast-iron skillet on the bottom of a cold oven and place baking stone on lowest rack. Preheat oven to 480 F (preferably convection) for 1 hour. Remove ciabatta from refrigerator, remove plastic wrap and generously dust with dusting flour. Generously dust a baking peel or large wooden board with dusting flour. Using a scraper, gently flip each ciabatta, one at a time, onto the baking peel. Transfer ciabatta directly onto the preheated baking stone in the oven. Repeat with smaller ciabattas. Fill skillet with about 1½ cups of ice cubes. Close the door and lower the temperature to 440 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, 20-30 minutes. (If you need to bake in batches, refrigerate additional loaves for up to an hour to slow down fermentation until you're ready to bake. Give the oven time to come back up to temperature, then bake as directed.)
• Cooling, Slicing, and Storing: Let bread cool completely before slicing. This bread is very moist when fresh and dries out quickly; it's best eaten the day it's baked. Ciabatta can be stored wrapped in plastic but it will become soft and lose its crunch over a 6-12 hour period.

CIABATTA

Steps:

• Make biga:
• Place water in processor. Sprinkle yeast over. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 8 minutes. Add 1 cup flour; process until blended. Scrape down sides of work bowl. Add 1 cup flour; repeat processing and scraping. Add remaining 1 1/3 cups flour. Process until small moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball (dough will be firm); place in large bowl. Cover; chill overnight (biga will soften, resembling thick oatmeal in texture).
• Make dough:
• Pull biga into walnut-size pieces; place in a clean large bowl. Add water, yeast and 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons semolina. Using 1 hand, squeeze ingredients together 2 minutes. Work dough 4 minutes by scooping sections from sides of bowl and pressing into center, blending into very soft, shaggy mass. Using spatula, scrape dough from sides of bowl into center. Let dough rest in bowl, uncovered, 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle salt over dough. Using 1 hand, knead dough by rotating bowl 1/4 turn at a time, scooping dough from sides and folding down into center until dough starts to come away from sides of bowl, about 5 minutes. Scrape dough from hand and sides of bowl. Cover bowl with towel; let dough rest 20 minutes.
• Rotating bowl 1/4 turn at a time, fold dough over onto itself 6 times; turn dough over in bowl. Cover with towel and let dough rest in bowl 20 minutes.
• Bake bread:
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Sprinkle work surface with additional semolina. Turn dough out onto semolina. Using pastry scraper or large knife, cut dough in half; keep halves separated. Let stand, uncovered, 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle 2 large baking sheets with additional semolina. Transfer each dough half, semolina side up, to 1 sheet. Stretch each dough half to 16x4-inch rectangle. Press fingertips into dough in several places to dimple surface (characteristic of this bread). Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool. (Can be prepared 2 weeks ahead. Double-wrap in aluminum foil to freeze.)