Very beautiful! I've made Jason's cocodrillo Ciabatta as well and I didn't manage to get such nice Ciabatte. the dividing into portions before fermentation sounds smart and and I can imagine that your plastic wrap helps a lot, too. Thanks for sharing!

Here's my attempt: Jason's Quick Cocodrillo Ciabatta

Salome

I have always divided mine into portions because that is the only way could figure out how to get my loaves sized evenly. Terry R

Some feedback here, please. Is the above video representative of what this Forum is calling "an exceptionally wet and sticky dough"? Because - following Jason's Coccodrillo recipe exactly time after time, mine is nowhere near this firm and well formed. 

Now, yes. If you're following my trials over on a Fresh Loaf Forum posting 

Totally Frustrated Jason's Quick Ciabatta you'll note that I've recently discovered that Reverse Osmosis and 'soft' water can destroy gluten, literally, and my water is that, and more. Hard water, I find out on BakingandBakingScience.com, is the only way to get good bread development, and right now I'm trying to figure out how to either turn some of my water into hard water, or to find hard water and bring it home. In the meantime; this video -

At no time in the process can I handle Jason's dough. It's so wet, so sticky, such glop that it never changes from what we see in the first minutes of this video where the dough is literally poured out into individual portions. It's never firmed up at all. Never. The way it comes out of the first 20 minutes of KitchenAid dough hook kneading is the same condition it is throughout the whole process .... and it's exactly that shape when it comes out of the oven. Flat as a tortilla. 

What's happening in that video that this incredibly wet dough begins to firm up and can be handled? I laughed out loud when I saw the "heavily floured" work surface! To keep the stuff I make from sticking like glue and coming apart in strands I have to dump it out on a surface at least an inch deep in flour. And handling it? Stretching it? Forming it? It sticks to a wet, plastic dough scraper let alone my oiled or floured, or water-dampened hands. It sticks to everything!

So, if what's happening in this video is indicative of Jason's Coccodrillo ciabatta recipe, I'm well and truly screwed, and it ain't my technique. It isn't "me". It's something else altogether. 

Wow, I'd like some help. 

Another take on the same dilemma - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX_6l2bmvQI&feature=fvw

In this video, the infamous No Knead Ciabatta. The suggestion of plastic wrap on the counter, floured so the dough won't stick? Bwa-hahahaha. It is to laugh. Following the recipe's instructions exactly this dough sticks to the plastic wrap even if I oil it, let alone four it! Rolling the dough off in a flip has not yet happened because the dough is stuck to the wrap. I roll the wrap and the dough stays in place on the wrap. 

I've used KAF unbleached AP and KAF unbleached Bread Flour, Pillsbury AP, Montana Wheat Company bread flour and several others. Kosher salt, Red Star yeasts that are within Use-By dates. I am just completely and utterly at my wits end with this wet-dough routine. 

Oh, and in the Chef John video above? I've never seen a crust caramelize into a golden brown. My crusts remain bland washed out cream colored. Before you ask, I have two different stand alone oven thermometers, plus the oven is only a year and half old. It is in fact generating the required heat. 

Sweet lord, this ain't supposed to be this hard and fight me this much .....

Jack, The video above does not show the high hydration of Jason's Quick Cocodrillo Ciabatta but it gave me some ideas about handling wet dough.

And this is a very wet dough, the wetest I have ever worked with. After mixing it is a wet sticky glop. I divide it, then using my bench scraper I do several folds (if you can call pouring the dough onto the counter then scraping it over onto itself a couple of times before scraping it all back into the bowl folding) Usually 3 or 4 folds at 20 minuets apart. This will not turn it into a firm manageable dough but it helps.

As for the plastic wrap, spritz your counter with some water, then lay a piece of plastic wrap down on the wet counter. The water keeps the plastic wrap from moving on you. Then spray the plastic with PAM, then dust with cornmeal. Then pour your dough onto it. Now you can just pull the sides of the plastic up to form your ciabatta loaf.

I turn mine out onto parchment before baking.

Did the water turn out to be your culprit?

I followed you plight on your other thread. Have you been able to turn out any good breads yet. I have a loaf recipe for you to try if you want it. I bake it 3 to 4 times a week and it ALWAYS comes out.

I made this bread a few weeks ago and it turned out fine.  This time I seem to be experiencing a whole new thing.  It collapsed during the rise before it reached the emphasized 'triple".

I put it in the fridge overnight and it rose again, but it still isn't triple.  The dough seemed much wetter than before. I read your suggestion that it might be the water and since we just refilled the softener - I wondered if that had something to do with it.  We have to soften our well water here or everything would be orange from the iron.

I"d thought about adding a cup of starter to it this morning, but I'm hoping for some advice before proceeding.  It's warming up on the counter as I type.

hmmmmmmmmmmm?

-susie