This gloopy dough will delight and surprise you and just wait till you taste it…
Imagine making a dough that looks like pancake batter, but acts like silky bread dough. Imagine a bread moist and tender and velvety in your mouth. We think making our focaccia with this ciabatta dough was one of the better baking ideas we had over the last few months. Let us know what you think!
The recipe for the ciabatta dough is inspired by Jason Molina’s Quick Coccodrillo Ciabatta Bread as found on The Fresh Loaf website.
These are our adaptations compared to the original dough recipe:
- We adapted the recipe to include a 12 hour poolish, for even more taste!
- We tuned the hydration level down to 85%, this allows you to skip using the peddle attachment of your mixer needed in Jason’s recipe and go straight for the dough hook.
Why? Less water gives quicker dough development, plus it is easier to handle when spreading in a baking pan, it behaves more like a dough and has more of a bread structure. - We use KitchenAid speed 6, Jason says to ‘beat the living hell out of it’ but speed 6 works great for this adapted version of the dough and your mixer will live longer too! If you own a Bear Teddy, you can use speed 3 on this machine.
By the way, it is not such a novel idea to make a focaccia with ciabatta dough. Focaccia typically contains flour, water, yeast, salt, and oil. Ciabatta is made with a similar dough but without oil, often as wet as focaccia or with even wetter doughs.
Making the poolish
Ingredients for the Poolish
250 g strong bread flour
250 g water
0,1 g instant yeast (see pictures)
This preferment is called a poolish and has equal parts of water and flour. In a bowl stir together 250 grams bread flour with 250 grams cold water and 0,1 gram instant dry yeast. We use a precision scale to measure the 0.1 gram but to give you a good indication of how tiny this amount is we made some pictures (see gallery above). Mix it until you have a consistency that looks like a very thick batter. Cover the bowl and leave for 12 hours at room temperature. So if you want to begin your bread making in the morning, you can make your poolish the evening before.
Making the ciabatta dough
This dough should pass the windowpane test with flying colors!
Ingredients for the ciabatta dough
Poolish (500 g)
280 g strong bread flour
200 water
8 g salt
7 g instant yeast
Attach the dough hook to your KitchenAid type mixer and combine the ingredients until you have a shaggy mass (30 seconds to 1 minute). Let it rest for 10 minutes.
Now comes the fun part. Start mixing at speed 6 (for a Bear Teddy mixer we advice speed 3). First your dough will look like pancake batter with some gluten but after about 3 to 5 minutes of kneading (so way shorter than the original recipe’s 10 to 30 minutes) the complete dough ball should stick to the dough hook and be separated from the sides, hardly touching the bowl anymore, even separating from the bottom from time to time.
When this happens you can make a wonderful ‘windowpane’ with your dough, as demonstrated in the picture.
Place the dough in a bowl sprayed with oil, cover and let it rest for 90 minutes in a warm place, provided the temperature of your dough is around 24ºC / 75ºF. During this period this dough really increases in size, more so than with your regular bread dough. After this period it should look very wobbly with lots of air, but it should not collapse of course.
Preheat your oven at 230ºC / 445ºF. Prepare your baking tray (about 30 x 40 cm / 12 x 16 inches) by lining it with a baking sheet or baking parchment and lightly spray or coat it with some oil. Spread out the gloopy dough on the baking tray (wetting or oiling your fingers will help) making sure to evenly distribute it into the corners.
Dress the dough with the following ingredients (or ingredients of choice):
Ingredients for the topping
24 ripe mini tomatoes, halved
1 large thinly sliced white onion
about 3 tbsps olive oil
a handful of fresh basil leafs
sea salt flakes and black pepper to taste
You can shred the basil leafs and mix them in with the oil before rubbing it on the surface of the dough.
With your fingertips, make indentations all over the surface, making sure the lovely oil also drips into the dents.
Let it proof for another 30 minutes.
Note: We like to add ingredients like the tomatoes before the final proofing, so they become ‘encapsulated’ during the proofing and stay nice and juice during baking too.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Brush with some more olive oil if you feel like it. Leave to cool ever so slightly then take your pizza cutter and attack!
Keez says
This recipe made me fall in love with the art of baking bread! Thanks for your wonderfully diverse and knowledge-packed site.
Just for a fun fact: I can tell from numerous experiences, that this recipe is completely do-able without the use of a machine. At least for me, it worked out quite therapeutically, because after some time even the mind seems stick to this sticky dough.
With some (obvious) extra kneading time (includes even more resting time during mixing, for the dough as well for the artisan nutcase doing the kneading) and use of a wooden ladle till the goop is sufficiently elastic for handling with a plastic scraper or other paddle like appliance, the dough finally also withstands the windowpane test ever so bravely.
How much extra time is needed depends strongly on technique, batch size and stamina
(proofing times are not noticeably affected)
End result looks identical to machine mixed version, from inside and outside. But it surprisingly tastes even more like heaven, at least to the one(s) that put in the extra labor 🙂
Cheerful greetings from the Netherlands y’all!
Weekend Bakers says
Hi again Keez,
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and thoughts. We must admit we have not done this one by hand ourselves but we do understand what you mean by ‘therapeutic’. We do have this same feeling a bit when making the Tartine sourdough. www.weekendbakery.com/posts…yle-bread/
You get into this rhythm, not in any hurry, enjoying the process, feeling the dough with your hands, knowing how it’s suppose to feel.
Enjoy your baking journey!
Josephine Quek says
I followed this recipe but my dough remains sticky and I have been mixing it for more than an hour but gluten just won’t form. Any advice?
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Josephine,
Can you tell us what flour you use and what the protein content is?
Josephine Quek says
It’s T55.
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Josephine,
We guess the protein content of the T55 will be around 11%. We would suggest to give it another try with stronger bread flour with a protein content of between 12.5 and 14% or try the T55 flour with 5 to 10% less water and see if this helps with the development of the gluten.
Cheryl S says
I just finished making and eating your recipe for Focaccia. There are not sufficient words to describe how fulfilling and gratifying it was to make it from start to incredible finish. Simply watching the poolish grow and blossom into this magnificent happy mass of pulsating life to watching the completed proofed dough grow into explosive bubbled goodness well, I tell you, it was like hitting the lottery of satisfaction but, the best thing ultimately, was the taste.
I made one half of the Focaccia with Fresh Rosemary, Thinly Sliced Garlic Marinated in Olive Oil, Maldon Sea Salt and Crack Black Pepper, the other half, Cherry Tomatoes Nested in Garlic Infused Basil Leaf, and Nobs of Mozzerella Cheese.
Oh. My. God! It was AMAZING!!! If the flavor of the dough wasn’t perfection enough, the sum of all the parts could merit The Nobel Peace Prize….definitely!
SO, THANK YOU PEOPLE AT WEEKEND BAKERY for sharing this recipe. This Focaccia Making experience will remain in my memory forever and for that, I’m truly grateful to you.
Weekend Bakers says
And thanks for your ultimate comment on this recipe! Such a good idea to make two halves with different toppings.
We made one yesterday with fresh herbs from our garden (we had planted this new ‘kaap knoflook’ , garlic plant from South-Africa from which you can use the leaves and paired it with lemon thyme and fresh oregano, lots of white onion, which we love and also the nobs of mozzarella. Again a feast for eyes and taste buds.
Hope you will enjoy many more variations on this theme in the near future!
Happy baking,
Ed & Marieke
Cheryl S says
Using the above recipe, could you demonstrate the process of making and shaping of the Ciabatta loaves and or rolls?
I absolutely adore your site and cannot wait to try this recipe.
I am in the final proofing step of your Tartine Bread recipe right now and cannot wait for it to go into the oven and to take my first bite, yum!
Thank you,
Cheryl
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Cheryl,
Will get back to your next comment too, as you may have experienced from the type of dough you are working with, the softness, enthusiasm, hydration, it is not really something you shape but more something you ‘pour, push and cut’. So if you want to make ciabatta you cut the dough in 4 equal parts, spray them with oil and dust them with flour, let them rise. before putting them in the oven you just gently stretch them into shape (oblong) and bake.
Hope the Tartine was a joy and success too!
Ed & Marieke
Louisa Evans says
Hi,
This recipe sounds lovely… I was wondering if I should try to replace the yeast in the poolish with sourdough culture and if so, how much should I use?
Many thanks, Louisa
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Louisa,
Yes you can change the poolish to a sourdough version if you want. We would suggest 15 to 20 grams of sourdough (this should be in the right direction but please keep in mind that it could always need some slight adjustment based on your conditions and your culture).
Happy baking!
Ed & Marieke
Ömer Seyfi Salur says
It turned very good I have a question can I keep the dough longer in the fride to make it whenever I need it that day.
Thankyou.
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Mr. Salur,
Sorry for the late reply, but yes you sure can use the fridge to slow down the process, plus you can also use less yeast in the final dough if needed. You need to experiment with it a bit to see what the optimal formula is, based on the time and your fridge temperature, but as you do it more often you will quickly learn what works best.
Good luck with it!
josie says
My husband has been making pizza at home for many years. He is an excellent chef. His pizza; however, never really satisfied because it tasted like it was trying to be pizza…Until last night. This recipe is incredible. It takes like NY style grandma. We love it with tomato, mozzarella, and extra olive oil – giving it a bit more of a greasy feel. The dough…wow…just like real pizza! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Now I can have non-GMO, organic pizza at home and not be missing a thing! Happiness!
josie says
It tastes, not takes…like NY style grandma. (typo :))
Weekend Bakers says
Thank you Josie, for the sharing and inspiration. We have never attempted pizza with this dough, because we normally make these thin pizza’s (Napoli style I guess) : www.weekendbakery.com/posts…a-poolish/
But we sure want to give it a go and maybe the NY style will be our new favorite.
Wishing you more pizza happiness from Holland,
Ed & Marieke
Alan Thomas says
Absolutely fabulous, first time bake and excellent results had to beat it a little longer, my mixer is an inexpensive stand mixer so I used the window pane test until it stayed together.
The dough was alot softer than expected, and thought it was probably going to the bin, addded the tomatoes, onion and a mix of home grown basil and greek basil (small leaves stronger flavour) hope it turns out this good in the future. Hope to make many more. Thank you.
Weekend Bakers says
Thank you Alan, for this wonderful feedback. This dough is something else, you did very well to beat it a little longer. Love the combination with the Greek basil, worth making it for the smell alone!
Wishing you many more happy baking hours,
Marieke & Ed
Magda says
Hi, I’m using Thermomix to mix the dough. I set the machine for 3 min speed 6. Unfortunately didn’t use my brain 🙂 Thermomix is NOT KitchenAid. So after a while a dough ball was formed, but I kept mixing. Then the ball „dissolved” into a batter, and that’s how it looks now. It’s definitely overdone. Maybe overheated.
My question now – from your experience – is a rubbish bin it’s destination, or shall I give it a chance. It’s bubbling away, but has a consistency of thick liquid.
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Magda,
Yes, definitely too much intense kneading and heat. This is the end of the road for this dough unfortunately. Hope you will give it another chance and it will work out fine we are sure!
Lesley Broadbent says
I love this bread, it’s so easy to make but I do find that even with my Kitchenaid mixer on Speed 6, it takes about 12 minutes to get the dough to lift from the edges of the bowl. That said, it isn’t a problem you just get need to keep an eye on it and don’t stop the mixer too soon.
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Lesley,
If it is not a problem and your mixer can handle it and does not get over-heated in the process, the 12 minutes sound absolute OK. That is why we adapted the dough recipe from the original that calls for longer and more intense kneading / mixing, but we get great results like this and from what you tell us, the same goes for you!
Happy baking!
Marina Greco says
Buonasera a tutti,
vorrei chiedere quale tipo di farina usi per questo pane (Bread Flour).
Hai un parametro di paragone con le nostre farine italiane
Grazie
Marina
Good evening,
I would ask what type of uses flour for the bread (Bread Flour).
Do you have a parameter of comparison with our Italian flour
Thank you
Marina
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Marina,
If our information is correct that would be Italian flour typo 1. Also see our posting on the subject:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…our-types/
For your information: When we make this bread we use our Dutch organic wheat flour from the mill that is stone ground and has a protein content between 12 and 13%.
I think for this recipe maybe a combination between typo 0 and typo 1 would also work well.
Good luck with it!
Marieke
Emma Beatriz says
1000 grams of dough divided 1200 cm2 = 0,83 g / cm2. Which is (was) the thickness of the focaccia before and after baking?
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Emma,
We have to guess but it should be close to 1 cm after spreading, 1.5 cm after final proof and around 2 cm after baking.
We think the most important factor is to aim for a spread of the dough that keeps the dough at a height of around 1 cm.
Emma Beatriz says
I appreciate your answer because mine is a small oven, thus, an average pan or tray in a recipe is frequently bigger than the ones I have. It is good to have an idea of the expected volume/thickness/height beforehand. Thank you!
Henk says
Ik heb het recept gemaakt als pure ciabatta. Dus wel iets gerommeld met rijstijden e.d. Verder heb ik mijn KA slechts op stand 4 gezet, maar dan wel gedurende 10 minuten. Ik durfde niet nòg hoger (stand 6).
Het resultaat was schitterend! Erg goed recept.
We (mijn vrouw en ik) hebben het nu als één groot brood “gevormd”, maar dat zou volgende keer eigenlijk beter moeten. Dus moeten we echt ciabatta’s proberen te vormen.
Verder denk ik er ook aan wat tarwezuurdesem in de biga te stoppen en wat Semolina onderop te strooien.
Weekend Bakers says
Hallo Henk,
Klinkt erg goed allemaal. Ja, dat vormen lijkt bij dit deeg toch meer op schenken, je kunt er niet al te veel mee, behalve wat snijden en spreiden, maar dat hoeft ook niet. En altijd komt er een lach op ons gezicht als we dit deeg maken en er aan mogen zitten, een heel grappige substantie. Semolina past perfect en werkt erg goed.
Mark says
This reminds me of Reinhart’s poolish focaccia.
I do the stretch and fold with it after the mixing, and I spread some oil and paper on the tray before placing the dough for the final fermentation. On the top I use the oil from sun dried tomatoes, and it brings the flavor even more.
Weekend Bakers says
An excellent idea Mark. Thanks for sharing!
Bill in UK says
Hi guys
Have made a few of these now and tweeted some pix. What the pix don’t show is that I am quite often finding the bread has stuck to the pan and has to be levered off which sometimes damages the base. Any idea?
Bill
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Bill,
We use baking paper that we coat with oil and then it should be OK.
Greetings,
Marieke & Ed
Siesie says
Hallo Marieke,
Ik heb een Kenwood keukenmachine, 1000W. Snelheid 1 t/m 6 en dan nog een max. knop. In jouw recept staat dat je de Kitchen Aid op 6 laat draaien. Heb jij enig idee op welke snelheid ik de Kenwood kan laten kneden?
Wat versta jij onder ‘bread flour’? Is dat tarwebloem van de molen, kan het ook franse bloem type 55 zijn, of zelfs gewoon tarwemeel van de Lidl? Ik heb kortgeleden, bij gebrek aan tarwebloem van de molen, de tarwebloem van de Lidl gebruikt. Tot mijn verbazing lukte dat prima. Ik was hier blij mee, want ik lees altijd dat brood bakken met meel van de supermarkt niet goed lukt.
Alvast bedankt voor jouw antwoord. Overigens: ik vind deze site bijzonder leuk en leerzaam.
vriendelijke groet,
Siesie
Weekend Bakers says
Hoi Siesie,
Beetje een lastige…de KitchenAid gaat tot 10. We denken dat je met de Kenwood op stand 3 een heel eind in de buurt zit. Een beetje een medium snelheid. Een beetje sneller dan een omwenteling per seconde…zoiets. Dat lijkt ons in ieder geval een goed startpunt.
Bread flour is inderdaad tarwebloem bij ons maar daar heb je veel (kwaliteits) verschil tussen en met name het glutengehalte van de bloem is belangrijk. Laat dat er nu meestal niet op staan in Nederland. Zie ook ons artikel over bloem: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…our-types/
Met zowel de bloem van de molen als met de type 55 kun je prima dit recept maken. Ook de tarwebloem van de Lidl zou heel goed wat rijker aan gluten kunnen zijn. Bij dit recept is 11 tot 12 % proteïne prima. Maar zoals gezegd omdat het vaak niet op het pak staat is het ook een kwestie van gewoon proberen.
En dank voor je aardige woorden 🙂
Een heel fijn (bak) weekend,
Marieke & Ed
Siesie says
Hallo Marieke,
Bedankt voor jouw antwoord. Begrijp ik het goed als ik het alsvolgt samenvat:
Nederlandse tarwebloem is gelijk aan Type 55 franse tarwebloem
Nederlandse volkorenmeel is gelijk aan Type 65 en daarboven, met dien verstande dat hoe hoger het nummer, hoe ‘meer volkoren’ het is? Ik vind dit allemaal zo lastig. En dan heb je nog Lemairemeel. Volgens mij is dit tussen tarwebloem en volkorenmeel in. Klopt dit? Je hebt helemaal gelijk. Proberen is natuurlijk het beste. Maar ik vind het jammer als het mislukt, ha ha ha
Groet van Siesie
Weekend Bakers says
Hoi Siesie,
Het is lastig hoor, want de waarheid is dat er tarwebloem te koop is die inderdaad lijkt op type55 maar ook die meer lijkt op T65. Als we in Nederland over tarwemeel spreken bedoelen we daar iets mee dat tussen tarwebloem en volkorenmeel in ligt. Misschien is het handig om dit schema mee te nemen, dan zit je een eind in de richting. www.weekendbakery.com/posts…our-types/
Dan nog blijft het inderdaad proberen. Kijk maar naar onze test van tarwebloem, dan zie je het verschil tussen tarwebloem en…tarwebloem: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…nt-part-1/.
Hoop dat je mooie Franse bloem vindt. Ik zou zelf van type 55 en 65 en ook iets van volkoren meenemen. Dan kun je daarmee ook altijd nog mixen om tot het perfecte resultaat te komen, dan kan het echt niet mis gaan hoor!
Succes,
Marieke
Richina Timmers says
Hoi Marieke,
Dankjewel voor je tip. Volgende keer rauw erop. Scheelt ook weer afwas. Ben inmiddels de familiebakker en ben jullie heerlijke foccacias aan het maken voor een BBQ vanavond. Groeten en een fijn weekend van Richina
Weekend Bakers says
Geniet ervan Richina!
Richina Timmers says
Beste Marieke,
Een fantastisch recept! Maar…. als ik er als topping wat aangefruite uien op leg worden ze keer op keer zwart. Heb jij misschien een tip?
Weekend Bakers says
Hoi Richina,
Wij leggen de ui er gewoon rauw op en dan komt het vanzelf goed! Witte zoete ui is ook heel lekker. Met pizza doen we dit ook zo.
Hoop dat het ook voor jou werkt.
Fijn (bak)weekend!
Marieke
Lev says
This looks fantastic as well as all your other recipes. I’d also like to thank you for keeping and giving such precise and meticulous instructions/description/pictures in all your recipes. It is very helpful. I love you site and used quite a few of your recipes.
I will try this FC bread tomorrow (planning to add some cheese to topping for a “pizza” effect – what do you think?). I have a few questions and I was hoping maybe you can advise:
1. It looks like the timeline on this bread is about 14-15 hours from start till bake time. I need to extend it (due to my work schedule) by about 5 hours. Would you recommend using even less yest in the poolish? How about 15-20 grams of my 100% hydration sourdough culture instead (I saw you recommend 20-30 grams in one of the post above as a substitute for 0.1 grams of dry yeast)? Or should I try to keep the poolish a bit cooler to allow longer fermentation?
2. I do not have a KitchenAid. How important is that short period of mixing at very high speed? Can I compensate for it with energetic hand kneading or extra bulk proof time (with stretch and folds)?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Lev
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Lev,
We would recommend to keep the poolish in a cool place. About the mixing, it is essential for the structure of the bread, it is simply too wet to knead by hand, stretching and folding would not do the trick we think. You can try using a hand mixer with the dough hooks attached, we have not tried it ourselves but know somebody who does, and it seems to give good results too.
Good luck with it!
Ed & Marieke
Lev says
Thank you for your prompt reply. My impatience prevailed and I already “jumped the gun” with using 20g of sourdough culture in place of 0.1 of dry yeast. But my place is not too warm (about 69-70F). Per your advise I will try to use hand mixer to do the kneading and I will report back with results 🙂 Do you see any benefit in slightly reducing final amount of dry yeast in the final dough (maybe about 4.5-5g) but extending the proof time? That way I can still keep my poolish at about 12-14 hours but extend my total time with extra proof time for the final dough?
Also shoould I be concerned about adding cheese to topping because it potentially increases weight on top and may obstruct the dough rise in the oven?
Thanks for your help, sorry for the million questions – hopefully it is not too much of a nuisance to you 🙂
Lev
Weekend Bakers says
He Lev,
I think that would be an option that could work, but again we do not know the outcome because we have not tried it ourselves and cannot speak from experience on this… You are changing different things here so the exact outcome (also combined with the already different equipment, ingredients, hands, climate) is a bit unsure. If you have the time we would encourage you to also try the recipe as described (and compare the two maybe).
You are right about the cheese, it could be an option to add it later, after the bread has stabilized.
Good luck with it!
Ed & Marieke
Lev says
Thanks again for all the advise and support. I baked it yesterday and it was wonderful. The sourdough based polish turned out really well (I think 20g is just the right amount for 12-14 hours preferment). My hand mixer could not do the job so I just used bread machine kneading cycle for about 20 min of energetic kneading. It developed the dough really well and after 90 min of proofing, it increased in size and looked exactly as you described in your recipe. I used your original topping (I love how, as you described, topping ingredients, specifically halved cherry tomatoes, incorporate into the dough during that final 30 min proofing period). I also sprinkled a bit of cheese on top (not too heavy at all though). It was a total success. Absolutely tasty, very tender and full of air bubbles crumb, soft crust but not too oily.
I will try to make it exactly as your original recipe to compare as soon as I can my work schedule allows.
I know that your original recipe calls for only 8g of salt (which is what I used) but I can not help to notice that amount being lower comparing to traditionally used 1.7%-2% of flour weight which would make it about 10g-11g of salt. I am sure you call for less salt on purpose and I am just wondering why? Is it because of short proof period and relatively high dry yeast amount to let the dough expand quickly and get really full of gas?
Thanks,
Lev
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Lev,
That sounds absolutely marvelous. Thanks for reporting this great result back to us. It is good to know your methods are working so well, great info to have and to try it out ourselves sometime too.
About the salt: we kept it down a bit in the dough because of the salt flakes that we add on top, that’s the main reason. But in all our recipes the salt is on the low side of the spectrum, it is just our personal taste (not too salty esp with other added herbs and spices in the mix). But you can always add some more of course.
Happy baking and thanks again!
Marieke & Ed
Michael Miller says
I would love to try the Ciabatta-Focaccia, But I have burnt out 2 KitchenAid machines, using the dough hook at higher speeds. Luckily, the machines have been under warranty, so they were replaced free of charge. Kitchen Aid has advised me not to run the dough hook any faster than #2, so #6 worries me. Can I use the paddle attachment?
Thanks,
Michael
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Michael,
Yes you could try and use the paddle attachment. But for what it is worth, this recipe is about the only thing (next to egg whites / meringue sometimes) we use our KitchenAid for anymore. But the dough is much like batter and that is why it (seems to us at least) works very well with the KitchenAid, there is not that much resistance as you would have with heavier doughs (you would then notice the machine working very hard and getting very warm) . So you could also give it a careful try maybe. Hope it works cause the recipe is really worth a try!
Happy Baking!
Marieke
gill says
seems ok…tastes good. Note the missing bit at the end.
yfrog.com/nz7t2ycj
Weekend Bakers says
I see there was no problem with the dough in the end. That looks seriously good Gill!
Have a great (rest of baking) weekend. Hope the other projects will be successful too.
Marieke
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Gill,
We now have the means to showcase your baking results with our recipes on our website! See: www.weekendbakery.com/your-loafs/
You can also add private and public information if you wish. Love to see your version of our favorite bakes on our website.
Happy Baking!
gill says
oh dear i took a flyer last night and used 1g! i’ll reduce the yeast in the production dough. hopefully it will still work ok. I’ll find out later on this morning. It looks lively this morning. Unexpected day at home so the weekend baking has started a little early. Busy day. I’ve got the ciabatta, SF sourdough and baguette boule on the go. And for the first time in weeks its actually stopped raining, so the garden is beckoning too. Have a good weekend. g
gill says
just checking – do you mean 1g of dried yeast or literally 0.1g for your poolish?
g
Weekend Bakers says
Yes, we do mean 0.1 gram! That is why we made the pictures, to show how tiny the amount is. The picture on the right is 1/4 teaspoon, you can almost count the little grains. In 12 hours at room temp it will have still done its work.
Claartje in UK says
Made my first “FC” today” without a stand mixer: my good old hand mixer did the job fine! Suggested topping plus mozzarella, fantastic, that’s another favorite added to my baking list! Thanks for the help and this lovely recipe! Looking forward to your next project …..
Weekend Bakers says
Such good new Claartje! I am so glad it worked out. Going to update the recipe right away to let people know the good old trusty hand mixer is also an option.
I recently made several FC and folded ingredients in the dough (sprinkle on dough and then do a letter fold (use olive oil and scraper to handle the dough) place on baking tray and pull /push into shape for final proofing. Made with herbs like thyme, dried tomatoes and also with porcini mushrooms and walnuts. Also ate it with mozzarella, because…well who needs a reason to eat mozzarella or Parmesan…
Coming soon: new projects like our simpler version of a baguette and a very nice quiche…
Happy baking,
Marieke
Claartje in UK says
That is very helpful, all of it! I do have a hand mixer w. dough hooks, so will definitely give it a go!
Sorry, I should have looked around the site a bit better. Really useful your conversions page! Everything is written down in my notebook now! Thanks again, I’ll let you know how things turn out. (Poolish for BB is in the fridge, looking forward to baking day tomorrow!)
Weekend Bakers says
Same over here. Hope it all works out.
Happy Sunday Baking!
Claartje in UK says
Grrr, since I don’t have a mixer, nor a precision scale (I don’t even trust mine on the single grams), this one could be one step too far … For now I’ll stick to my favorite, the BB. Just a simple question, could I use the 1/4 tsp measure, which says 1,25 ml, and trust that that would give me about 1,25 gr. (instant) yeast? That would be of some help ….. Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Weekend Bakers says
Do not despair Claartje! Yes the recipe calls for a mixer, but you could also try and use a hand mixer with the dough hooks attached. Something to borrow more easily from a neighbor or so.
The 1/4 tsp yeast does not give you 1,25 g instant yeast but 0,775 g yeast. A whole teaspoon is 3,1 g. (also see our baking conversion page: www.weekendbakery.com/cooki…nversions/). So for the BB loaf that would mean you could use 1 tsp instant yeast in the poolish (3 g) and 1/2 tsp (1.5 g) in the final dough and it would be almost perfect, without scales!
Hope this helps,
Marieke
Rob says
This is the worst bread recipe. Ever.
I’ve made it several times now, and each time the bread disappears within 15 minutes. Into thin air seemingly. I just can’t understand it. 😉
Amazing stuff guys, I love it!
Do you think it’d work if I used my leaven in the preferment rather than bakers yeast? And if so, how much leaven (She’s white, 100% hydration, called Hilda, BTW)
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Rob,
I know the feeling, also had that happening with my apple pie! Maybe install a camera to catch the culprit ;).
And yes you can use your lovely Hilda, we would guess you would need about 20 to 30 grams in your poolish and probably allow for some extra proofing time after the 3 to 5 minutes mixing, or you can make a hybrid, using the sourdough for taste in the poolish and using the yeast in the final dough (times would stay the same as in our recipe with this version).
Let us know how it turns out, always very interested to know!
Happy Baking,
Ed & Marieke
Edwin de Graaf says
I made this recipe yesterday, and although I let it get a little bit dark on top it tasted great. I will try this one again, putting the baking tray a little lower in my oven. And my wife asked for cheese, so I might put some mozzarella on.
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Edwin,
Thanks for sharing, and you are right the slightly dark result is easily fixed next time. You always have to adjust and tweak recipes a bit to your equipment, environment and also taste. Adding mozzarella will be wonderful too!
Happy baking,
Marieke
TONYK says
I AM MAKING THIS AGAIN TOMORROW AND WILL USE GREEN ONIONS INSTEAD OF WHITE ONION AND WILL ADD A BIT OF SHREDDED MOZZARELLA AS WELL — IS THER ANY WAY I CAN ADD A PHOTO TO MY RESPONSE — I TRIED BEFORE BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL — LOVE YOU WEBSITE AND HOPE YOU KEEP ADDING MORE RECIPES — THANKS —
TONYK
Weekend Bakers says
Hello TonyK,
You are right it is not possible now but we are looking into that. At the moment all I can suggest is sending us the photo via our contact form or adding a link to the photo posted elsewhere (flickr for example) . We would love to see the result anyway.
And thank you for being so nice about our website and recipes 🙂
Marieke & Ed
Weekend Bakers says
Hi TONYK,
It took a while but we now have the means to showcase your baking results with our recipes on our website! See: www.weekendbakery.com/your-loafs/
You can also add private and public information if you wish. Love to see your version of the focaccia with the green onions.
Happy Baking!
Ed and Marieke
Bill in UK says
Must try this, it looks great. As I think I said elsewhere on the site I have been using the Jason Molina gloop method for ciabatta for a while. My current variation is to throw in 100gm or so of my rye/wheat starter, and cut the yeast down a bit. I sometimes add a handfull of spelt into the flour. This combination gives a more ‘rustic’ type of ciabatta with just a bit more chew than the original. Last time I made focaccia I pulled the dough out a little thinner than normal then opened a jar of grilled red/yellow pepers and laid some out on half the dough, together with some torn Mozzarella , then folded the other half on top and pressed down with my fingers. After rising for 30 minutes or so I dimpled the top and added garlic, rosemary and salt before cooking. All I can say is that there wasn’t much left after lunch.
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your tasty contribution. I like the way you are thinking! Inventing great new things on the way. Seems like you came up with the focaccia calzone!
Keep it up with the baking inspiration!
Marieke
TONYK says
I MADE THIS BREAD TODAY AND IT WAS EASY AND TURNED OUT GREAT — IT DID TAKE ABOUT 35 MINUTES TO COOK BUT IT WAS DELICIOUS — THANKS FOR THE GREAT RECIPE AND I WILL BE MAKING THIS AGAIN SOON —
TONYK
Weekend Bakers says
Thanks for sharing your great result Tony!
Happy baking,
Marieke & Ed
Karin Anderson (Karin's Bäckerei) says
Window pane, indeed! Wow!
Weekend Bakers says
And it does not stick to your hands as much as you would expect, it releases itself very easy from your fingers, because of the gluten.
TONYK says
I WANT TO MAKE THIS BREAD — CIBATTA – FOCACCIA AND SINCE I HAVE A BOSCH MIXER I AM HOPING IT WILL WORK AS WELL AS A KITCHEN AID — WILL IT — IT HAS DONE A GREAT JOB ON MANY OTHER BREADS —
THANKS,
TONYK IN TEXAS
Weekend Bakers says
Hello TonyK,
I am guessing the Bosch will d the job just as well. Let us know how it turn out!
Happy baking,
Marieke
Frank says
Your recipe looks good. I use to do the final proofing in a plastic shopping bag. This works very well and keeps the dow silky and moist. My favorite topping is green olives and chopped fresh rosemary.
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Frank,
Up till now we just left it uncovered for the final proofing, because it would not dry out so quickly with all the oil and wet dough going on, but with your shopping bag method you would really make sure nothing can escape.
Thanks for the great tip and sharing your favorite topping, delicious! We love fresh rosemary, sadly our plants died this winter because of the extreme cold, so we have to start over with some new ones.
Happy baking,
Marieke