Sourdough Ciabatta

2 days to make

Lean rustic sourdough

Yield 2 Ciabatta.

STARTER

50 gm sourdough culture, refreshed and active - I keep mine at 150% hydration
so 50 gm is an easy quantity for calculating flour and water weights. I use Ed
Wood's San Francisco Sourdough Culture.
25 gm Rye flour
205 gm white, 12% protein white flour
370 gm water at 45C (can be lower, not much higher though.)

Whisk all the ingredients to a thick batter, in your mixer bowl and leave,
loosely covered, in a warm place, overnight.

These quantities in my kitchen, give a batter temperature of about 27C which is
cooled rapidly, by the stainless steel bowl I use, to 25C. By the next day, the
starter should be frothy, very bubbly, and sour-smelling. (A polite way of
putting it. Actually, it smells like the Black Lagooon<g>)

DOUGH

The starter
50 gm wholewheat "bread" flour.
200 gm white flour as above
10 gm salt


Mix all the ingredients, with the hook, on low to combine and then turn the
mixer up to medium and mix until the dough clears the bottom of the bowl, this
sourdough version does that a LOT quicker than the commercial version I make.5
- 10 minutes should be enough. Dough temperature was 20C.

Tip out onto a well floured counter and give the dough 6 Stretch 'n' Fold
cycles at 10 minute intervals, using flour as necessary. Leave to double, cut
into 2 strips and stretch and fold into rough squares. Proof to about 1 1/2
times or 2 if you're feeling confident, seam up, on a heavily floured surface.
Invert, stretch to Ciabatta shape and bake immediately, no recovery, at max
turned down straight away to 220C. 15-20 minutes, internal temp at least 95C.
Stones, no steam.

First rise took 2 hours, second rise just under 3 but times will, I suspect,
vary.

The hydration is high but the dough is extremely elastic after the stretch and
fold cycles and is surprisingly resistant to deflation.

And, if you were to say "That's just your standard Ciabatta with extra stretch
and fold cycles and sourdough intead of commercial yeast", I'd be forced to
agree.

John

p.s. The bread was delicious BTW, some of the best I have ever baked. Which is,
after all, why we do it, to make bread that's a pleasure to eat.

John