The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

CI's Ciabatta

dahoops's picture
dahoops

CI's Ciabatta

This is CI's Ciabatta, but I omit the water and use 6 oz of ale + 2 oz of buttermilk.  Has the nicest flavor.  They're baked in oval clay bakers so spring a little higher than a normal ciabatta.  Perfect for sandwiches.

flournwater's picture
flournwater

Looks like they'd make wonderful hoagie rolls

dahoops's picture
dahoops

I used King Arthur bread flour and machine kneaded for 15 - 20 mins.  Since this dough is so wet and sticky, it doesn't appear to rise that much in the bowl when done mixing.  But I wanted to try the clay oval bakers on the recipe and am pleased with the results.  I know it doesn't look like a normal ciabatta loaf, but it's great for sandwiches.  When making it for dinner, I use the traditional forming and bake on a stone.  Either way, it's delicious. According to Cooks Illustrated, the small amount of milk in the dough tightens up the holes, but I didn't see much difference - still very holey bread.  The flavor and color of the finished product is great.  I'm testing a combination of beer-milk-water in many of my recipes to see what it does to the flavor of the bread.  So far, so good!