Ben’s Ciabatta Bread

Ingredients

• Day 1 (Poolish)
• 400 g Flour
• 400 g Water (Lukewarm)
• 1 g Yeast
• Day 2
• 560 g Flour
• 320 g Water (Lukewarm)
• 20 g Salt (Fine)
• 50 g Olive Oil (Extra Virgin)
• 1 g Yeast

Method

1. 1. Day 1:
2. 2. Whisk the yeast and water together and let rest for 10min
3. 3. Add flour and mix.
4. 4. Cover tightly and leave at cool room temperature (18–21 °C ideal).
5. 5. After 12–16 hours it should be very bubbly, domed, and starting to relax with a nice fermented smell.
6. 6. Day 2 (approximately 12-16 hours after poolish):
7. 7. Whisk the yeast and water together and let rest for 10min
8. 8. Add flour and mix. Optional: rest 20–30 min (autolyse). Add all the poolish, salt, and olive oil. Mix with wet hands (oil/water) or dough hook until no dry flour remains (3–5 min). Dough will be wet and sticky — this is correct.
9. 9. Bulk fermentation with folds (2–3 hours): Cover. Rest 30 min. With wet hands do 4–6 stretch-and-folds every 40 min for the first 1.5–2 hours.
 Dough should roughly double, become very puffy and jiggly.
10. 10. Divide & bench rest: 
Heavily flour bench and hands (or use semolina). Turn dough out gently. Divide into 2 equal pieces. Gently shape into loaves.
11. 11. Transfer to parchment-lined tray dusted with semolina or flour. Lightly dimple tops if desired. Cover and rest for 40-90 min. (Proof until nicely puffed and jiggly. Finger poke should spring back slowly.)
12. 12. While proofing, preheat oven to 230–245 °C (as hot as safe) with thin baking tray inside and a deep roasting dish on the bottom rack with hot water in it.
13. 13. When ready to bake, carefully pour boiling water from a kettle into the hot roasting dish until halfway full (creates instant steam).
14. 14. Transfer your placement with the loaves on them to the hot tray and place it into the oven and bake for around 28 minutes.
15. 15. Pull when internal temperature in the centre reaches 96–99 °C (use your thermometer — this is the most reliable doneness test for high-hydration ciabatta).
16. 16. Cool on a wire rack for at least 45–60 minutes before slicing.