Ciabatta Bread

From: Katzen

On May 11, 2009

Lovely bread - I made it exactly as described... well, I did replace one cup of white bread flour with wheat bread flour. I definately think spritzing the bread while in the oven is important, and I also had a cast iron pan in the oven with water in it, too. Thanks for the easy recipe - I'm using it as a base for one of my ZWT recipes! PS - definately read Eadaein's review on how to handle the dough - I'm very glad I did!

From: Matrix10

On Mar 21, 2009

Perfect!! I love Ciabatta Bread, and this turned out to be better than I can buy, so will be making it from now on. Thanks so much.

From: Eadaein

On Dec 17, 2005

I wanted to clear some things up on this bread for those who have never made it before. The batter will be VERY wet, it is tricky to handle, for it to bake the way Ciabatta should do not treat it like other breads, you need the wet dough, do not add flour to it, also avoid overhandling the dough, after its rise you need to handle it with a very light touch (like a baby as they say in Italy) so that those precious air bubbles we worked so hard to get dont break. Ok, so you handle it carefully, with well floured hands you pull and stretch the dough into a rough rectangular shape, dust the loaf and your hands with flour again, then neaten and plumpen the dough with your fingers tucking the sides under to create a fairly tidy appearance. I will post a pic (making this again tomorrow) of the dough in its uncookes phase so everyone can see how it looks. If you have never made this before it can be unnerving LOL. So, wrinkled, messy, lumpy flat looking dough that is sticky and unmanageable is normal, dont worry! ;p

From: Marie

On Dec 7, 2004

Just took this bread out of the oven and snitched a piece. WOW! It is so crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. I could have used a little better directions on how to shape the bread. I covered the dough with plastic wrap for the rising and when I tried to remove it, the plastic stuck to the bread. I will spray the plastic with non stick spray next time. I am still giving it 5 stars because it is so delicious! Will definitely make again. Thanks so much for posting this super recipe, Tish.