Baking sourdough ciabatta is an excellent way to use sourdough starter. Learn how to make this popular, rustic Italian bread.
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What Is Sourdough Ciabatta Bread?
Sourdough ciabatta is a rustic Italian bread made from wheat flour, water, olive oil, salt, and sourdough starter, a natural yeast. “Ciabatta” means “slipper” in Italian and refers to its elongated, broad, and flat shape. Bakers can form ciabatta bread into long rectangles or small squares or buns; either way, it has a crispy and chewy crust with an airy open crumb.
The soft, chewy texture and honeycomb holes make ciabatta perfect for dunking into soups or swiping up sauce from a dinner plate. It also makes for a delicious sandwich bread filled with layers of cured meats, cheeses, and balsamic vinegar.
7 Tips for Making Ciabatta at Home
When making ciabatta bread, consider the following tips for best results:
- 1. Use a stand mixer. Ciabatta is easiest made in a stand mixer, since the dough is extremely sticky. With many homemade bread recipes, the inclination is to add more flour to wet or sticky dough, but it often leads to dried-out bread. If you don’t have a stand mixer, try using a food processor.
- 2. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Transfer the ciabatta dough to a lightly oiled bowl to rise. Most yeast breads, like ciabatta, need at least two rises. The first rise happens before the dough is formed and the second rise happens once the dough has been formed into loaves or rolls.
- 3. Use a bench scraper or a metal spatula. For easier bread making, use an oiled or floured bench scraper or a long metal spatula to let you handle this sticky dough without making a mess. They can be used to shape, cut, and transfer the dough.
- 4. Have a bowl of water nearby. When you’re shaping the dough have a small bowl of water next to you. Sticky dough won’t adhere to wet hands, so dip your fingers in the water before you begin touching the dough and form it into a rectangle shape.
- 5. Spray the dough with water. Spraying the dough lightly with water before going in the oven creates steam, which allows a chewy, golden crust to form while the bread bakes.
- 6. Brown the bread. Many first-time bakers are worried to overbake things, and often don’t let bread brown properly before removing it from the oven. For the best ciabatta, bake until the outside is golden. A nice crispy crust will sound slightly hollow when you tap it with your fingertips.
- 7. Let it cool. Remove the ciabatta bread from the oven and let it cool completely before serving to give its interior crumb the best possible texture.
Sourdough Starter Ciabatta Recipe
makes
prep time
45 mintotal time
1 hr 10 mincook time
25 minIngredients
Note: This recipe includes 20 hours of inactive time.
- 1
In a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the starter, salt, olive oil, water, and flour. Start mixing on low speed until the flour is combined. Then switch to the dough hook and knead at medium speed for 10 minutes, to develop the gluten.
- 2
Cover the dough with a clean tea towel, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- 3
Fold (don’t knead) the dough, using a wet hand to reach under the dough, pulling the bottom of the dough up, and folding it up over itself. This set of stretches will give your sourdough loaf a better texture than kneading with a mixer or by hand. Rotate the bowl in four quarter turns, folding after each turn. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then repeat the process three more times, resting for 30 minutes in between.
- 4
Grease a large bowl with olive oil and transfer the ciabatta dough to the mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight, at least 12 hours, up to 18 hours.
- 5
The next day, after the bulk fermentation, transfer the ciabatta dough to a floured work surface and sprinkle more flour over the top of the dough. Use two floured bench scrapers and carefully shape the dough from the sides to form a rough rectangle shape. Cut in half and use the bench scrapers or wet hands to gently shape each half into a loaf. Alternatively, divide into quarters and make smaller ciabatta rolls (decreasing the bake time by 5 minutes).
- 6
Slide the bench scrapers under the bread dough and transfer each loaf onto a kitchen towel with a generous amount of flour. Fold the cloth over the sides of the dough to separate and support each loaf of bread, making a couche. Let the loaves rise for 20 minutes.
- 7
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Invert a baking sheet or baking stone onto the lowest oven rack. Use parchment paper to line another inverted baking sheet.
- 8
Slide your fingers under each end of the loaf and quickly transfer it to the parchment paper. Spray the dough lightly with water.
- 9
Gently slide the loaves onto the baking sheet in the oven. Bake bread until golden brown and they sound hollow when you tap them, 20–25 minutes.
- 10
Allow the ciabatta loaves to cool completely on a wire rack.
- 11
Fresh ciabatta is best enjoyed the day it's made. To store longer, wrap tightly with plastic wrap for 2–3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
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