RECIPE: CIABATTA

Makes: 4 Ciabattas Note: The biga needs to be made at least 6 hours in advance, so you may want to start this in the morning or even the night before.

Ingredients For the Biga: 250g Strong White 3g Fresh or 2g Dried Fast Action Yeast 250g Water (at room temperature)

For the : 8g Fresh Yeast or 4g Dried Fast Action Yeast 125g Water (at room temperature)

250g Strong Flour, plus extra for dusting 8g Salt 25g Olive Oil, plus extra for greasing

Method Making the Biga (in advance) 1. Add the flour, yeast and water to a large bowl and mix or whisk together to a smooth paste (see Tips below). 2. Cover with clingfilm and rest at room temperature for 6 hours, by which time it should be puffy, bubbly, wobbly and smell amazing.

Making the Dough 1. Weigh your yeast and water into a jug and mix together to soften and dissolve the yeast. 2. Place your bowl of biga on the scales and reset to 0. Weigh in the flour and salt and give everything a quick mix just to incorporate. 3. Pour in the yeasty water and the oil and mix everything together to form a dough. 4. Now use your dough scraper to really work the dough well in the bowl. It will be a wet, sticky dough, so it’s easiest to do in the bowl. Push the dough towards the side of the bowl closest to you, scoop the dough up with the scraper underneath, stretch it up out of the bowl and drop it

For more recipes and tips visit www.bakewithjack.co.uk 1 back down again in a circular motion. Keep scooping up and around, working the dough for 8 minutes. 5. Grease a rectangular lidded box or container with oil. Pour or scoop the dough from the bowl into the box, cover and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

First Fold 1. Lightly oil your hands. Uncover the box of dough and carefully slide your hands underneath one end of the dough. Lift the dough up and fold it over the top. Repeat with the other end. 2. Rotate the box 90° (a quarter turn) then repeat with each end, so you’ve done 4 folds, one on each side. 3. Cover again and rest for another 30 minutes.

Second Fold 1. Repeat the exact same process as above. Rest for another 30 minutes.

Third Fold 1. Repeat the exact same process as above. By now you should feel a real difference in the dough - it should be pillowy, soft, alive and airy. Rest for another 30 minutes.

Dividing and Shaping 1. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment and dust your work surface well with flour.. 2. Turn the dough out from the box and flour the sticky side on top. Carefully pull out the sides to make a clear landscape rectangle in front of you, being gentle to keep the airy structure. 3. Use your dough scraper to divide the dough into 4 - cutting vertically into 4 strips. 4. Carefully lift each piece onto the lined trays (2 on each), stretching each piece out slightly to create a long loaf shape.

Final Proof 1. Leave to prove for 30 minutes. 2. Preheat your to 240°C/Fan 220°C/Gas Mark 9 (see Tips below).

Baking 1. Bake with steam for 5 minutes then turn the oven down to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6 for a further 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Tips from me... Helpful videos you might like to see: - Bread Tip #28: Poolish? Biga? Sponge? What is a Pre-ferment? - Bread Tip #84: How to ‘Knead’ a Super Wet Dough

For more recipes and tips visit www.bakewithjack.co.uk 2

When you make the biga, give it a good smell - you’ll really notice a difference when you smell it again after the fermentation has taken place. Soon you’ll start recognising the smells of each stage which will help with your baking.

Ciabatta dough is naturally really WET and STICKY, which can make it tricky to knead. This is the easiest method for me, where I work it first in the bowl, then put it straight in a container or plastic box to avoid sticky on a work surface.

Dough scrapers are my go-to most useful piece of bread making kit. I use them for mixing the dough, cutting it, scraping out bowls, cleaning the table, LITERALLY everything. If you don’t have one yet you can get yours at bakewithjack.co.uk/shop

The folding process is really what gives the ciabatta dough its strength - the more folds, the stronger it becomes and the more air it can hold for its characteristic bubbly, open crumb. Ciabatta is meant to be rugged and uneven with inconsistent bubbles and shape, that’s what makes it different to other !

For more recipes and tips visit www.bakewithjack.co.uk 3