Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (277 page)
MAKES 1 LARGE LOAF
If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the dough by hand following the instructions in
“TEST KITCHEN TIP NO. 119 HAND-MIXING METHOD FOR DOUGH”
. If you own two stand mixer bowls, in step 1 you can refrigerate the sponge in the bowl in which it was made. Use the second bowl to make the dough in step 2. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the bread on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest oven rack. This recipe requires a bit of patience—the sponge, which gives the bread flavor, must be made 11 to 27 hours before the dough is made. We find it makes the most sense to prepare the sponge (which requires just 5 minutes of hands-on work) the day before you want to bake the bread. On the second day, remove the sponge from the refrigerator and begin step 2 at least 7 hours before you want to serve the bread.
SPONGE
2 | cups (11 ounces) bread flour |
¹⁄ | teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast |
1 | cup water, room temperature |
DOUGH
3 | cups (16¹⁄ |
1 | teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast |
1¹⁄ | cups water, room temperature |
2 | teaspoons salt |
1. FOR THE SPONGE:
Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast, and water together on low speed until mixture forms shaggy dough, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer sponge to medium bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature until beginning to bubble and rise, about 3 hours. Refrigerate sponge for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. FOR THE DOUGH:
Remove sponge from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while making dough. Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast, and water together on low speed until rough dough is formed, about 3 minutes; cover bowl loosely with plastic and let dough rest for 20 minutes.
3.
Add sponge and salt to dough and knead on low speed until ingredients are incorporated and dough is formed (dough should clear sides of bowl but stick to very bottom), about 4 minutes. Increase mixer speed to medium-low and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4.
Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with vegetable oil spray. Fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 180 degrees; fold again. Finally, fold dough in half, perpendicular to first folds. (Dough shape should be rough square.) Cover with plastic and let dough rise for 1 hour. Repeat folding, replace plastic, and let dough rise 1 hour longer.
5.
Top pizza peel with parchment paper. Turn dough out onto well-floured counter (side of dough that was against bowl should now be facing up). Dust dough and hands liberally with flour and gently press dough into rough 10-inch square. Fold top corners of dough square into middle of dough, then gently roll and pinch dough into torpedo shape. Transfer loaf to prepared pizza peel, seam side down, and gently tuck dough into taut loaf. Spray loaf with oil spray, cover loosely with plastic, and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
hours. (Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.)
6.
One hour before baking, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Using sharp serrated knife or single-edge razor blade, make one ¹⁄
2
inch deep slash lengthwise along top of loaf, starting and stopping about 1¹⁄
2
inches from ends. Spray loaf with water and slide parchment with loaf onto baking stone. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees and quickly rotate loaf using edges of parchment; continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown and loaf registers 210 degrees, about 35 minutes longer. Transfer loaf to wire rack, discard parchment, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving. (Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Wrapped with additional layer of aluminum foil, bread can be frozen for up to 1 month.)
Replace 1¹⁄
4
cups bread flour with 1¹⁄
4
cups whole wheat flour.
GAUGING WHEN BREAD IS DONE
We commonly advise checking the internal temperature of a loaf of bread before making the decision to pull it from the oven. A properly baked loaf should register a temperature between 190 and 210 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, depending upon the type of bread. But is internal temperature by itself sufficient proof that bread is fully baked?
We placed temperature probes in the center of two loaves of rustic Italian bread and monitored them as they baked. Halfway into the baking time, the internal temperature of the loaves had already passed 200 degrees, and they reached the optimal 210 degrees a full 15 minutes before the end of the recommended baking time. We pulled one loaf from the oven as soon as it neared 210 degrees and left the other in the oven for the recommended baking time. The temperature of the longer-baked loaf never rose above 210, because the moisture it contains, even when fully baked, prevents it from going past the boiling point of water, or 212 degrees. When we took the second loaf out of the oven, the differences between the two were dramatic: The loaf removed early had a pale, soft crust and a gummy interior, while the loaf that baked the full hour had a nicely browned, crisp crust and a perfectly baked crumb. So while it doesn’t hurt to take the temperature of your bread, stick to the recommended baking time and wait for the crust to achieve the appropriate color before removing it from the oven.
1.
After delicately pushing dough into 10-inch square, fold top right corner diagonally to middle.
2.
Repeat step 1 with top left corner.
3.
Begin to gently roll dough from top to bottom.
4.
Continue rolling until dough forms rough log.
5.
Roll dough onto its seam and, sliding your hands under each end, transfer dough to sheet of parchment paper.
6.
Gently shape dough into 16-inch football shape by tucking bottom edges underneath.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Whether they lack flavor or have holes so big there’s hardly any bread, most loaves of ciabatta available just aren’t any good. Uninterested in a lackluster loaf from the supermarket, we decided to make our own, aiming for a crisp, flavorful crust, a tangy flavor, and a chewy, open crumb. We started with the flour selection; all-purpose, with less protein than bread flour, produced loaves with a more open, springy texture. We built flavor through the sponge—as it ferments, the yeast produces lactic and acetic acids, which give the bread its characteristic sourness. Kneading on its own produced loaves that spread out instead of rising, so we turned to a combination of kneading, folding, and letting the dough rest. This process gave the dough structure but also oversized holes. Adding a small amount of milk slightly weakened the gluten strands and took down the size of those big bubbles. We baked the loaves at a cooler temperature than most recipes recommend and sprayed them with water in the first minutes of baking for a crispier crust and a bit more rise.