Ciabatta using Double Hydration
Aug 30th, 2008 by SteveB
Here in the U.S., ciabatta has become the quintessential Italian bread. Characterized by a crisp, flour-dusted crust, a holey interior and a rustic, “slipper-like” shape, ciabatta is ideal for dipping into any one of a number of wonderfully aromatic, herb-infused olive oils. When sliced horizontally, it also makes great sandwiches, the holey crumb providing deep pockets to hold a favorite condiment or dressing.
Ciabatta is made from a high hydration dough, typically upwards of 70%. The formula used here has a hydration of 76%. Although I am a huge proponent of hand mixing because of its ability to provide superior gluten development over conventional home stand mixers, very high hydration doughs can be difficult to properly mix by hand. Because of this, I decided to see how the technique of “double hydration” would work for hand mixing. In double hydration, the dough is first mixed with only enough water to bring it into the range of a conventional hydration (e.g. 60-69%). After the gluten has been sufficiently developed, the remaining water is added and mixing is continued until full incorporation of the added water. In this way, the more difficult process of sufficiently developing gluten in a very wet dough can be avoided.
The formula and procedure described below has been adapted from Advanced Bread and Pastry: A Professional Approach by Michel Suas.
Poolish
- 190 g Heartland Mill All-Purpose Flour
- 190 g Water
- 1/8 tsp. Instant Yeast
Final Dough
- 310 g Heartland Mill All-Purpose Flour
- 190 g Water
- 10 g Salt
- 1/8 Tsp. Instant Yeast
- 15 g Olive Oil
- 380 g (all of the above) Poolish
The night before baking, the poolish is made by mixing the flour, water and yeast until all the ingredients are well incorporated. The poolish is then covered with plastic wrap and allowed to sit at room temperature overnight until mature, about 12 hours.
The next day, all of the poolish is added to only 140 g of the full 190 g of water (the remaining 50 g of water is set aside for later use). The olive oil is then added and a whisk is used to obtain a homogeneous mixture. The flour, yeast and salt are then added and the mixture is stirred with a dough whisk until all the flour is hydrated. The resulting mixture is turned out onto a mixing suface and the dough mixed by hand (Musings on Mixing…) until moderate gluten development, about 10 minutes. The dough is then placed back in its mixing bowl and the remaining 50 g of water are added. The water is incorporated by using a hand to continually fold the dough over on itself. This took an additional 5-10 minutes. The resulting very fluid dough was then poured into an oiled container, covered and allowed to ferment for 3 hours. During this time, the dough was folded at the 1 and 2 hour marks using the procedure shown on the video here.
After the 3 hours are up, the dough is turned out onto a well-floured surface and is divided in half. Each dough piece is then given a half fold (left to center, then right to center), placed folded side up on a well-floured couche and covered. After a 40 minute second fermentation, the dough pieces are gently flipped onto a peel and loaded into an oven pre-heated to 450°F. The pieces are baked at 450°F for 35 minutes, under steam for the first 15 minutes of baking.
Excellent – will let you know when I try it…or cry for help!
Thanks again for sharing your work.
Judy
Well, it does look like there was a ciabatta bug this week 🙂 Love you site and thanks for stopping by 🙂
I did a dough by hand the other day that was over 80% (just experimenting) and I did it with the slap and fold technique. At first it is just a big mass and a bunch of it sticks to the table and bits fling a few feet away. But little by little it comes together and is workable. I guess you just can’t be scared of the mess at first. The result was a funny bread with these cavernous holes (not a good thing! I should have dimpled it).
I’ll give your double hydration method a go. Who wouldn’t when they see your beautiful results?
Jane
Tablebread,
OK… what am I thinking of baking this weekend? 🙂
Jane,
As always, your compliments are appreciated. As you discovered, you can develop the gluten directly with a high hydration dough… it just takes a comparatively long time. With the double hydration technique, your mixing time is considerably shortened.
What is the temperature of water for the poolish and the final dough, respectively? Also, it would be very helpful, especially for novices, to have the specific water temperature in all your blog’s future bread recipes. Thanks.
Lena,
Your are right… I have neglected to inform readers of the final dough temperature. Unless otherwise stated, the final dough temperatures for all my breads are in the 76-78°F range. To calculate water temperatures to get to this range, I use the standard formula, described here. The specific water temperatures I use would not be much help to you since the water temperature you would need to get to the desired final dough temperature could be quite different.
Steve,
Very nice write up and the bread looks great, as usual. The double hydration method is a time saver and I think produces a less oxidized crumb with better color. I am enjoying your site Steve. Everything you highlight is so well done. Thanks!
Eric
Thanks, Eric. I have to say that since I’ve started hand-mixing, I’ve never had to worry about over-oxidizing the dough. One less thing to worry about! 🙂
My first ciabatta ever, I just took the thing out of the oven and judging by sight and touch and smell it’s great! (I only would have wished it to be more flat, not the fault of recipe though:-)
As a slightly advanced beginner – having made around 100 products and been baking less then 1 year – I have bookmarked tons of websites and read zillions of articles and have to say this blog is going to be somewhere at the top of my list.
As this is my first post ever too, I’d like to take an opportunity and ask.
The oven I use is a fairly old lady and there only is Fan oven and grill to choose from.
I use the fan and after the initial failures with a few recipes I came to decreasing
suggested temperature about 20-30 degrees centigrade, which as far as I can tell works fine now.
Another thing is a huge leak of heat anytime I open the oven door(and when they’re closed too I suspect), which I have to at least once:) The temperature after steaming drops from maximum – 230C(450F) to around 170C(340F) and the missing 25C – I choose 195C (around 380F) when 450F is being recomended – is gained in around 15 minutes.
Well I got to know that thing well enough over time, but if anybody has to say anything on this topis I will appreciate.
I have to head for work know and will eat it in 12 hours, just wanted to drop a note.
Thanks
bBrandy,
Thanks for the kind words and congratulations on your first ciabatta!
Temperature control can be problematic in a home oven. To make sure the oven temperature recovers quickly whenever the door is opened, I have a roasting pan full of clean landscaping stones sitting on the floor of my oven. These stones are heated up when the oven is preheated and serve to increase the thermal mass of the oven. You might try this and see if your oven temperature recovery times are reduced.
Looks like it could be of help. I’ll start collecting stones, it won’t be the easiest task in the area I live. I’ll take my time and give it a shot. Ciabatta is great.
Hi Steve,
I’ll be trying your recipe soon. I was blabbing at my hairdresser when I got my hair cut yesterday and ended up promising him a ciabatta. Yours looks beautiful.
Paul
Steve, I tried your recipe last night, or rather I tried to try your recipe last night. Unfortunately it was late and I was tired, I read all those 190gram additions and just used 190g for the flour instead of the 310g called for in the recipe. It was awfully wet… Your excellent videos saw me through. The bread actually baked and rose and all that. It was very difficult to handle, I needed a transfer board to get it from the couche to the parchment paper/peel. But I did successfully do the mixing technique as well as the folding in the tub. It didn’t look nearly as full as yours (duh, I wonder why) and later while rereading the recipe I thought “hummm 310g doesn’t look familiar…” So I started another poolish last night and I’m at the end of the rising in the tub portion of the recipe now. The dough was much easier to handle, in fact I added all the water and was able to do the mixing technique successfully at that hydration. It was still drier than what I was handling last night. I’m so grateful for your wonderful videos. Hopefully in another hour or so I’ll be grateful for a terrific Ciabatta as well. The one from last night is edible, nice flavour even, but the crust is too crispy and it didn’t have enough structure to hold the interior in a coherent fashion. But after last night, this hydration level is a breeze. :-Paul
Paul, I’m glad your second attempt is working out better. It may help to first weigh out all the ingredients, and put a check mark on the recipe next to each ingredient after it has been weighed, before starting any mixing. This “mis en place” will help insure that the proper quantities of all ingredients will be used.
Hi Steve,
That’s a great idea and one that I’ve sworn I’d follow, each time I forget something… it’s coming, right along with checking the oven before I preheat! (melted plastic container).
The ciabatta came out great. Again, I can’t overemphasize how important your videos were for me. Transformative.
Question: It looks like you’re working on a marble top? If so, is there a specific reason? I just have Formica countertops myself.
Paul
Paul, I’m glad to hear that you’re happy with the way your ciabatta turned out. The marble countertop is advantageous when making pastries, keeping the enriched dough cool while it is being worked. For breads, a wooden or laminate countertop works just as well.
Steve, congratulations on a beautifully presented site. I love the clean layout and the professional looking photography. Your instructions are clear and concise and your videos very instructional.
A question about the ciabatta : what’s the reasoning behind using all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Syd, thanks for the compliments.
The classifications “all purpose flour” and “bread flour” really don’t have much meaning, as they vary from company to company. When I choose a flour for a particular type of bread, I look at the flour’s protein content. An all purpose flour like Heartland Mill or King Arthur typically has a protein content in the range 11.3-11.7%, quite suitable for most breads. To get the chewiness I’m aiming for when baking bagels or pizza, I look for a flour with a higher protein content, and a flour such as King Arthur Sir Lancelot flour at 14.2% protein content works for me.
I havent tried the double hydration technique just yet….but wouldnt it be the same if you added all the water first. Incorporate the ingredients……then let the dough sit 20-30 min in an autolyse? then go back and mix for some further gluten devolopment….with the bulk fermentation of 3 hours that u have…..if u fold the dough @ 1.5 hours plus the autolyse between 1st and 2nd mix that should yeild plenty of gluten development. Also it will decrease the mixing time saving your caroteniods yielding a creamier color crumb……..no?
Robert, in high hydration doughs, I’ve found that it takes much longer for the gluten strands to form during an autolyse step than they would at more conventional hydrations. Perhaps this is due to a proximity effect; at higher hydrations the glutenin and gliadin molecules must diffuse greater distances to interact with each other. Conjecture aside, why not try it for yourself and let us know what you find? The nice thing about hand mixing is that I never have to worry about oxidizing the carotenoids in the dough.
im gunna give it a try…..they highest hydration i have done was a 78% pizza bianca…but it had a 6 hour bulk fermentation time….also making filone but that hydration was down around 71 if i remember correctly and the fermentation time on that was even higher closer to 9 hours. Thanks for the tips (=
Steve,
Finally I have made a decent loaf – of any sort. Partly because I now have an oven that maintains a steady accurate temperature but principally because of your excellent instructions and videos.
Many thanks for the effort you have put into developing the techniques and then designing such an attractive and easy to navigate site.
Neil
Rose Bay Sydney
Neil, congratulations on your success! It’s comments like yours that make writing this blog worthwhile.
Hi Steve,
No worries!
Following on from that I decided to have a go with some old spelt flour (use by day 03/08!) using a poolish and working the dough per your video. I hydrated the loaf as much as I could. Having turned and rested the dough over a period of an hour and a half I split the dough into two, folded each into a baking tin and put in the fridge to rise for 2 hours. They rose well. I then baked with steam at 220 for 10 minutes and then at 190 for another 15 minutes. The loaves turned out light with an even open texture.
I’m not sure I really care for the taste of spelt but it’s not bad.
Hi Steve,
Lovely bread you have. This is my first Ciabatta to make. I followed all the instructions, the texture has not much of the holes, but small holes. Crusty and nice taste, the smells of the bread is wonderful. Will definitely make this bread again. More power to your blog.
Arlyn, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. The key to an open crumb in ciabatta is high hydration and minimal handling of the dough after the first fermentation.
Hello Steve,
What a great site! I would love to make ciabatta half as perfect as you have. Before I give it a try could you please clarify the final step fo me?
“placed folded side up on a well-floured couche and covered. After a 40 minute second fermentation, the dough pieces are gently flipped onto a peel and loaded into an oven”
Do you bake floured side up with the seam (folded side) on the bottom? In the picture it looks like the seam is up, or its been slashed. The reason I’m asking is because whenever I try to make ciabatta I get a hollow loaf like a pita.
Thanks in advance.
William, thanks for the compliment. You understand correctly; the ciabatta is baked with the floured side up and the seam (folded) side down. I do not score my ciabattas. What appears to be score marks are actually areas on the surface not coated with flour, formed during baking as the ciabatta expands in the oven.
Steve,
I am making the ciabatta. When making the final dough, you say”the dough is then placed back in its mixing bowl and the remaining 50 g of water are added. The water is incorporated by using a hand to continually fold the dough over on itself. ” Is this technique similar to the stretch and fold?
cake diva, I’ve heard a number of techniques referred to as “stretch and fold”, so I can’t answer to that specific phrase. The action that I refer to here is one where the hand lifts a portion of the dough at the wall of the bowl and folds it to the center of the bowl. The bowl is then rotated a few degrees and the action is repeated. This is continued until all the additional water is incorporated.
Ok Steve- I’m sorry
This is Dave again, I just read the Ciabatta recipe. I think I understand what the method is and why. Any recommendations or additional thoughts?
Hi Dave, no additional recommendations or thoughts… just dive in and have fun!
Steve, can you elaborate a bit more on your shaping method?
You say:
“Each dough piece is then given a half fold (left to center, then right to center), placed folded side up on a well-floured couche and covered.”
What is the rough shape you should get the dough into before you make these folds? Shaping dough is one of the most challenging aspects of breadmaking. It is so easy to wreck an irregular internal network of bubbles during shaping. I read somewhere once that ciabatta should almost be poured from its container with only the most delicate little tuck.
Syd, when I form a ciabatta (I wouldn’t really call it a shaping), I hold the roughly rectangular dough piece on my work surface with both hands, then very gently stretch it by slowly moving my hands away from each other. The left side is then folded to the center and the right side folded to overlap, like folding a letter. This is all done in a single motion to give a slightly elongated piece of dough. I hope this helps.
Hi, new to your blog…I am trying the ciabatta recipe…and its not looking so good…
The poolish looked great after 12 hours.
The dough was fine after the 140g water, flour, yeast, oil, etc….its soft and sticky but kneadable…
Its the part after I added the remaining 50g of water that becomes a problem. Exactly, how wet is “The resulting very fluid dough was then poured into an oiled container, covered and allowed to ferment for 3 hours. “?? Because what I have is really sticky pancake batter…I dumped it into an oiled container and let it ferment anyways…It kinda looks like poolish. Im not sure what to do with it…In no way can I fold the dough over itself like in your demonstrative video. I cant knead it, I wouldnt dare dump it out on the table, I think it would just spread all over the place. Im pretty sure I didnt measure anything wrong. I need a bit of clarification before I start over again. Thanks =)
Hi emilie and welcome to Bread cetera!
After mixing in the remaining 50 g of water and getting it fully incorporated, the dough should be fluid but have a bit more body than pancake batter. It should look and feel similar to the dough shown in the focaccia dough folding video. Try to make sure the gluten is close to fully developed during the first stage of mixing before incorporating the second portion of water. If your flour has a lower protein content than the one I am using, you may have to adjust the quantity of water downward a bit.
Thanks SteveB…Im thinking the flour may be a problem too. I’ve successfully made various breads in the past, but having relocated to Taiwan, I have limited access to quality ingredients. I dont have much of a choice besides the all purpose flour available at the local grocery stores, I cant order a 25kg bag of flour to keep around. I been attempting bread for about a week and a half now and failing miserably. Breads come out pretty much inedible. I’ve been trying different things everyday to trouble shoot. Not developing enough gluten might also be a problem I am having.. Im pretty small, my hands are small and my arms arent very strong so it usually takes a lot longer for me to get the ‘window pane’. So the dough folding method makes it a lot easier for me. I will try kneading a bit longer and reducing the water. Thanks!
emilie, Just in case you are not aware of it, I published a post on making ciabatta using a home stand mixer, for those who are unable or who don’t wish to hand mix. It can be found here.
Thanks! I’m really enjoying your site. Its very helpful. Your way of explaining things and your videos make a lot more sense than culinary school did. Its one thing to go through the motions of following a recipe, but its another to really understand whats going on in there to learn the technique and make corrections and adaptions. I’ve become bread obsessed and my family is reaping the benefits =)
Looks wonderful. I am marking your post and will give this one a try. One Ciabatta I tried was a dismal failure, in part due a lot of mistakes by the writer. To me this looks like a very sensible approach.
Libby, both the hand mixing method shown in this post and the double flour addition/double hydration method using a stand mixer shown here produce wonderfully light and airy ciabatta.
hi steve
thank you for your wonderful instruction and explaination on hydration and technique- I now have a much better understanding on the secrets behind real ciabatta making. I tried a few times in the past and each time my ciabatta was more like a log-shaped regular bread – the texture was always too even no matter which recipe I follow – I could never achieve the open irregular holes like yours. I pretty much given up on ciabattas. Now I think it was because of hydration and my handling of the dough- I am itching to try again after discovering your blog. ctually i am going to start my poolish right now and will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.
Hi jade,
For ciabatta, the key to an open crumb is high hydration, sufficiently developed gluten and gentle dough handling. Good luck and have fun!
well, after a labourous 36 hours @_@ (well, not really labourous, but it was definitely 36 hours) I finally had my first successful ciabatta!
my mistake was –
(1) used wrong poolish. I took the kefir rye sourdough starter by mistake, as I had 2 jars of unmarked poolish going at the time;
(2) ran out of yeast so didn’t add any for the final dough;
(3) added 190g of flour instead of 310g for the final dough so I ended up with a thick pancake batter which was super messy and sticky I really struggled to shape ( why didn’t I read the recipe properly);
(4) just before baking I suddenly discovered I added too little flour so I added the rest of flour and had to proof again;
(5) bad time management – so had to leave the final final dough in the fridge for another day;
But guess what? the dough was very forgiving – it worked out beautifully despite my mistakes. the loaves were light and wonderfully holey. Perhaps a bit more tangy because of the kefir and rye and long proofing time but we really enjoyed the ciabatta.
So thanks again for sharing your technique!
Next time I will make sure I follow your recipe properly 🙂
Jade
hi steve,
i made two more ciabatta today, following your EXACT recipe this time and they came out PERFECT and DELICIOUS. beautiful crumb, light and moist and open. the dough was a breeze to handle after my superwet experiment over the weekend.
now i am so motivated to try out more of your recipes! thanxxx
Hi jade,
Congratulations on your success! Keep it up. There are so many breads out there, just waiting for you to bake them! 🙂
i did try to make this bread however the measurements i tried did not work out could you tell me exactly what is 310gr flour is in cup and 190g water in cup when i added the second half of the water it seemed to be too much so i know it must be the measurements i used.
Hi Pauline,
Because volume measurements for flour are inherently imprecise, there is no way to give an exact equivalent volume measurement for 310 g of flour. It is for this reason that I specify the quantities of the ingredients in my recipes in units of weight and recommend that all serious home bakers invest in an inexpensive digital scale.
dear steve,
hi,
i made your ciabatta more than 10 times and each time i used different flours to get the best flour for ciabatta, i recently bought a kind of enriched flour called STAR from kff miles ( its not globally famous ) its great and good enough for almost all breads but i have problem with ciabatta it becomes flat again with this type of flour.
last time i mixed 150 g whole wheat flour with STAR flour and result was good but it has not big and open crumb, i dont know what to do, please help
Rahim,
It tends to be more difficult to obtain a wide open crumb when whole wheat flour is added to the dough. If you stick with a white flour of suitable protein content, you are more likely to obtain the wide open crumb you are seeking.