I found the recipe below on this newsgroup, dating back some five
years. Sounds good, so I'll give it a go. Just one question -- it
mentions King Arthur all-purpose flour. I'm not familiar with either
brand or 'all-purpose' description, being in Australia. Would good old
bakers' flour be OK?


Ciabatta

This rustic Italian loaf is filled with irregular holes, all the
better to
trap a drizzle of olive oil. Cut lengthwise, ciabatta makes a
wonderful
Italian-style sandwich.

Starter
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 cup water
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Dough
all of the starter
3/4 cup water
2-2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon diastatic malt (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Starter: Mix all of the ingredients until well-blended. Cover the
starter
and leave it at cool room temperature for 12 to 16 hours; it will
become
very bubbly.

Dough: Combine the starter with the remaining dough ingredients. Mix
vigorously until the dough begins to hold together (about 4 minutes);
it
should be very slack (wet).

Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl. Let it rise for 1 hour,
then
gently deflate it. Let it rise another hour, then turn it out onto a
liberally floured worktable and sprinkle lots of flour on top. Flatten
the
dough to about 3/4-inch thick and cut it into two pieces, each about 4
x 10
inches. Cover the loaves with a proof cover (or heavily oiled plastic
wrap)
and let them rise on well-floured boards or parchment. Inverted
baking pan
works very well for support. and bottom of bread gets nice and brown.

I did not use a stone, i did use the steam by putting a pan with water
on
top shelf. I also let the bread rise for about and hour or more,
trying to
get the big air holes.

While the dough is rising, place a baking stone in the oven and set
the
temperature to 500°F. Allow oven to heat for 30 minutes. Transfer the
bread
to the stone and lower the oven temperature to 425°F. Bake the
ciabatta
until it's a deep golden brown, approximately 18 to 20 minutes.