Ciabatta Bread and Sandwich Bread

I meant to post this yesterday but it totally slipped my mind because I was working most of the day. Paycheck > blogging, sorry. Anyway, as you know, I have been breadmaking like a fiend since I received this book for my birthday. The other day, I whipped up a big batch of boule dough (what the authors call “the master recipe”) and used half of it to make two different loaves—ciabatta (my favorite kind of bread) and regular white sandwich bread.

Boule Dough via Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
Prep Time: Approx. 5 minutes to make dough
Yield: Four 1 pound loaves

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt (I used regular table salt…just add a little bit more)
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a BIG bowl (this makes four pounds of dough), mix the yeast and salt with the water (don’t worry about dissolving it or anything). Incorporate the flour all at once with a spoon, without kneading. You may need to use your wet hands to add the last bit of flour, just don’t knead aggresively. This is a wet dough. Cover with a non-airtight lid and let rest for approximately two hours. You can let it rise for up to five hours and it won’t hurt anything. You can use this dough immediately or refrigerate it for up to two weeks and use it as needed.

Ciabatta Bread

Preheat your oven to 450 with an empty broiler pan on the bottom rack. Take about a pound of your dough (grapefruit-sized) out with wet hands. DO NOT USE FLOUR! Form it quickly into a ball without kneading. On a greased cookie sheet, plop your dough ball down and shape it into an oval-type shape (the traditional shape of ciabatta) that’s about 3/4” thick, NO THINNER or it will be pita bread! This photo is a little gross, but oh well.

When your oven is up to 450, put your cookie sheet on the center rack. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan and quickly shut the door to trap the steam. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until your loaf is nice and golden-brown. Take out and let cool before cutting.

Crusty White Sandwich Loaf

Grease a loaf pan. Flour the surface of your dough and take about a pound and a half of dough (cantaloupe-sized) out. Flour the surface again and shape it into a ball, then into a log shape and drop it in your loaf pan. Ideally, t should be a little above the halfway point of the loaf pan. Mine was a little too small because I didn’t use enough dough. Let it rest, covered but not airtight, for 40 minutes if you’re using fresh dough, and 1 hour and 40 minutes if you’re using refrigerated dough.

Preheat your oven to 450 with an empty broiler pan on the bottom rack. When it’s preheated and your dough has rested, flour the surface of the dough and make a slash down the center of the top of the loaf with a serrated bread knife. Put the loaf pan on the center rack and pour 1 cup of hot tap water in the broiler pan, closing the oven door quickly to trap the steam. Bake for 35-40 minutes until browned and crusty on top. Let cool before serving.

The ciabatta came out really nicely with a pretty soft crust and nice soft insides. I have to work on perfecting it though because I love ciabatta bread so much and I want to be able to make a perfect loaf at home. It’s not quite there.

As for the sandwich loaf, it has a wonderful crispy crust and is slightly sweeter than the ciabatta. Perfect for sandwiches. I only wish I had made mine bigger, because I’ll have to make mini-sandwiches with this loaf. Oh well, at least they’ll be cute! :)

Both breads came out really well, and I am amazed that they both came from the same dough. I decided several weeks ago that I’m not going to buy store-bread again if I can avoid it, and I’m definitely holding myself to it. Baking your own bread at home is so worth it!

There won’t be any more bread posts for a while since we have to use up these two loaves! There should be cooking posts, though. :)