Monday, January 12, 2009

A Successful Ciabatta Experiment?

Ciabatta bread, which according to Wikipedia literally means, "carpet slipper," (as opposed to hardwood floor slipper) is one of my favorite breads. I've wanted to try a loaf using our no-knead dough and I think it worked. I made an extra wet and sticky batch of dough and here you can see the before and after photos. I will reserve final judgment until slicing however. More later.





32 comments:

Anonymous said...

There was an old baker from Italy,
Whose bread became toast of powers that be.

He sailed to Alaska, broke; without fear,
Cooking on ships while he worked his way here.

While still a young man, and far out to sea,
Fleishmans used his sweet, French bread recipe.

Living to reach the age of ninety-four,
His legend carved in wood above our door.

After he died his great-granddaughter wed,
And lo and behold, her husband bakes bread!

Worldwide fans via foodwishes dot com
Watch his videos and learn from Chef John.

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Tips and tricks to make a novice expert!

Chef John’s expertise and full repertoire
Someday will make him a Food TV star.

His wife: his best friend; his family the same,
Will always love him regardless of fame.

Anonymous said...

74 degees in SF today....

Chef John said...

Wow! Very impressive. I've been used in limericks before, but never one I could print! "...there once was a chef from frisco..."

Rosko said...

Chef, have you ever seen the book "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day"?

It's great, and it's all no-knead stuff.

Chef John said...

ive heard of it, but haven't seen. Sounds great.

Anonymous said...

okay, I can't wait--so slice it already!

Chef John said...

sorry for the wait, but I left my camera at my uncle's house and won't have it until tonight!

Unknown said...

Maybe just draw us a picture. I can believe you could forget your most important piece of equipment (?), since your faculties may be frozen by winter's chill, OR perhaps over-imbibing at your Uncle's house, to stay warm, of course.

Bay Area, short-sleeve weather continues..., currently 65, with a high today of 68.

Anonymous said...

Is the recipe in print somewhere with the directions or do I need to take notes while watching the video? The bread looks great! I haven't had lots of luck with ciabatta, I'm still working on basic Italian.

Chef John said...

yes, the video is the recipe. Thanks!

James Haddow said...

Chef John,

Just stumbled across your blog and am intrigued by your no knead ciabatta loaf. I've been experimenting with all sorts of no knead recipes lately, most of which call for a dutch oven or some other sort of contraption to steam the loaf for that lovely crust. I saw in another video of yours that you did do a tray with water and even sprayed the loaf while cooking. Is it correct though that for this ciabatta loaf you are putting it in the oven with no water/steam in any way whatsoever? I tried one loaf like that and it turned out horribly, but would love to not have to deal with the steam if possible. Thanks so much in advance for your answer.

Chef John said...

i always bake bread with a pan of water in the oven, but I didn't spray this one due to the flour dusting.

RVing After 60 said...

I'm only getting half the rise out of my Ciabatta compared to what you show. What am I doing wrong?

Chef John said...

no way to tell from here... bread is a mysterious thing

Unknown said...

Dear Chef John,
I baked this yesterday and it was a success!! Just wondering if i want to add some butter for a more rich texture do i have to cut down on the water??

Chef John said...

you cant sub butter for water, one is a fat. I would just butter the bread after baking. or add a little melted butter to the dough. probably ok

Unknown said...

How long are you suppose to mix the dough in the batter for?

by the way, i love your videos! They're awesomee and easy to follow!

Chef John said...

just a few minutes until well mixed

Unknown said...

If it's too gooey, should i add some more flour?

Chef John said...

you can, but it is gooey. Just look at the video.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef John,
I'm going to try your ciabatta bread today but was wondering if I'm not here at the 18 hr mark, what happens? Can I wait longer and if so how much longer? Or if I can do the preping at the 18hr mark but need to leave for more than the 2 hour rise time what do I do? Trying to understand what kind of lead way I have with the schedule. Thanks alot.
Linda

Chef John said...

you can leave longer than 18 hours, but not sure how much longer. A few hours shouldn't really make much difference. The 2nd rise could go longer than 2 hours i guess, but once the loaf is risen it should be baked. FYI- i'm not much of a baking expert and can only vouch for the recipe procedure as shown. good luck!

Anonymous said...

Tried it....

Ciabatta is a Carpet Slipper. I was successful in getting just the sole.

My new puppy liked it, though. She is teething at the moment, so needed a sole to chew on!

Unknown said...

The recipe is wonderful and I'm going to try it this weekend.

I'm baking various kinds of breads but my only problem is the temperature: 425F makes the oven so hot that the bottom is burned and the top is not ready.

So I'm baking breads usually in 350F. They come out fine, but without that "bubbling" texture that is an effect of fast rising in hot oven.

Should I buy the pizza stone to solve this problem?

Will be thankful for your advise, Chief.

Chef John said...

yes, a pizza stone would help

Anonymous said...

What type of yeast do you use for the no knead ciabatta?
Bread machine or traditional active dry?

Anonymous said...

Dear Chef John,

i am not sure about amount of salt, it says 1 1/4 of salt. Does it mean
1 Tbsp and 1/4 of tsp??

thanks,
Altyn

Chef John said...

sorry, yes tsp!

Chef John said...

sorry, yes tsp!

Unknown said...

Why incubated 18h flour? Temperature at my place about 28-32 degrees C. So long incubation should it not? The bread I usually do just brewed to double size. Thank you.

Chef John said...

Time to develop flavor and texture. We only used tiny amount of yeast so needs time to grow.

Lisa said...

I love this recipie and have made it countless times. I recently spit the dough in half and placed each half into a loaf pan.. Wow two beautiful loaves of bread. its worth a try.... Rick