Ciabatta

Yield 4 small rectangular loaves, 4 inches x 8 inches

Ingredients

16 ounces unbleached bread flour (450g flour)

1 3/4 ounces hot to the touch water (about 37 to 43 deg C)
13 ounces room temperature water
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons iodized salt
Vegetable oil (for coating the bowls)
Cornmeal (for sprinkling on the baking stone)

Total 400 ml water

Method
1. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the 1 3/4 ounces of hot water to let it dissolve, and set aside.
Sprinkle the salt on top of the flour and stir to incorporate. Make a well in the center of the
flour salt mixture, and add the cool water little by little.
2. After the yeast has dissolved into the warm water, add it to the mixture, stir to incorporate,
then stop and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and write
the time with permanent marker on the top.
3. After 30 minutes, sprinkle flour on your work surface, then scrape the dough out onto it. Tap
your hands in a little flour, then gently flatten the dough into a rectangle, with the short side
facing you. Using a bench scraper, flip the top edge down to just below the center, then flip
the bottom side up above the center. Do the same with each side, then turn dough over and
dust off the flour. Place the folded dough in a a bowl slicked with vegetable oil and let it sit
for 30 minutes, again, covered with plastic wrap with the time written on it.
4. Fold the dough again, using the same method as above. Place the dough in a second oiled
bowl, covered with plastic, and let it ferment until it has doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours.
5. As the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 245 deg C, and put a baking stone on the middle
rack, and an empty pan (for water) on the bottom rack. After the dough has doubled in
volume, sprinkle a little more flour onto your workspace. Then, sprinkle a lot of flour onto
the back of a baking sheet. Scrape the dough out onto the counter, tap your hands in flour,
and gently flatten the dough into a large, even rectangle of approximately 12 x 8 x 1
high. Use a bench scraper or a knife to cut the dough into 4 equal pieces, approximately 3
wide and 8 long. Fold each piece, top-down to center, then bottom-up to above-center, in
the same way you folded the dough in step 3. Place each folded piece seam-side down on
the floured baking sheet. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 to 60 minutes, or
until the dough has doubled in volume.
6. Sprinkle more flour on the counter. Take each ciabatta piece and stretch it very gently to
lengthen. Turn it upside-down and place back onto the back of the floured sheet tray.
7. After all of the pieces have been stretched, sprinkle 4 tablespoons of a mixture of half
cornmeal and half flour on the baking stone. Shuttle the ciabatta pieces off the sheet tray and
onto the stone. Pour water into the pan on the bottom rack in order to make steam; you can
also spritz the loaves with water.
8. The dough should bake to a very dark brown in approximately 30 minutes. Let the bread
cool before cutting into it.