Rustic Italian Bread Sponge Method Recipes

Steps:

• 1. About 4 hours before you want to bake the bread, make the sponge (starter). Place all the ingredients for the sponge in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Cover with lid or plastic wrap. Let sit about 2 hours. It should be quite bubbly.
• 2. After the sponge has processed, start adding the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle the 1 1/4 tsp yeast on top of the sponge. Then sprinkle (most) of the 2 cups Bread Flour. (hold back several Tbsp of the flour to incorporate as needed). Add the liquid mix of Olive Oil and Warm Water. Mix as well as you can with a large spoon. Working in the bowl, use hands to bring the dough together. This will take a few minutes. Continue kneading in the bowl, or transfer to a board to knead a few more minutes, incorporating some (or all) of the reserved flour. The dough should be smooth and elastic.
• 3. Place the dough in a clean bowl and coat the dough ball with little Olive Oil. Cover with lid or plastic until doubled. If you have used the right temp of warm water this should happen rather quickly....in approximately an hour, give or take.
• 4. When the dough has doubled, punch down and knead for a minute or so. Use hands to form a nicely shaped ball.
• 5. Place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of a 5 qt. Dutch Oven. Sprinkle some flour on top of parchment. Place dough ball, centered, on floured parchment. Make three slits on top of dough, not too deep. I do this with scissors. Sprinkle some flour on top of dough. Cover with lid or plastic until doubled. That should take just a little less than an hour.
• 6. This bread is baked by starting in a cold oven. The oven should not pre-heat.
• 7. When bread is ready to bake, place lid on Dutch Oven and place in a cold oven in the lower 1/3 of oven. For non-black pot, turn oven on to 450 degrees. For cast iron, turn oven on to 425 degrees. Set the timer to bake 65 minutes.
• 8. At 55 minutes, remove lid from Dutch Oven. Continue baking, uncovered for the remaining 10 minutes.
• 9. Remove bread from oven. Plop loaf out onto a rack. Thump the bottom of loaf. It should sound hollow. If so, place top up on rack to cool thoroughly before slicing, about 1 1/2 hours. If the loaf does not sound hollow, you may finish it up by placing it back in the oven for several more minutes, baking directly on the oven rack (no pan).

Steps:

• For the biga:.
• Combine the flour, yeast and water in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead on the slowest speed (stir for a KitchenAid), until it forms a shaggy dough, about 2-3 minutes.
• Transfer the biga to a medium bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature until it begins to bubble and rise, about 3 hours.
• Refrigerate biga at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours.
• For the dough:.
• Remove the biga from the refrigerator and let stand at room temp while making the dough.
• To make the dough, combine flour, yeast, and water in bowl of the standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Knead the dough on lowest speed until rough dough is formed, about 3 minutes.
• Turn the mixer off and, without removing the dough hook or bowl from the mixer, cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. (This allows protein in the dough to relax, making for a stronger dough that can rise higher, with a better crust.).
• Remove the plastic wrap over the dough, and add the biga and salt to bowl. Continue to knead on the lowest speed until ingredients are incorporated (dough should clear the sides of the bowl but should stick to the very bottom), about 4 minutes.
• Increase the mixer speed to low (speed 2 on a KitchenAid) and continue until the dough forms a more cohesive ball, about 1 minute.
• Transfer the dough to a large bowl (at least 3 times the size of the dough) and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a cool, draft-free spot away from direct sunlight, until slightly risen and puffy, about 1 hour.
• Remove the plastic wrap and turn the dough by doing the following: lift the left third of the dough and fold inwards towards the center, then repeat with the right third of the dough, folding inwards toward the center. Then fold the dough in half from bottom to top (perpendicular to the first two folds).
• Replace the plastic wrap and let the dough rise 1 hour.
• Turn dough again, replace plastic wrap, and let dough rise 1 hour longer.
• Dust the work surface liberally with flour. Hold the bowl with the dough at an angle over the floured surface. Gently scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto the work surface (the side of the dough that was against bowl should now be facing up). If you want two smaller loaves, split the dough into two equal halves. Use a knife or bench scraper.
• Dust the dough and your hands liberally with flour and, using minimal pressure, push dough into a rough 8- to 10-inch square. If you are making two loaves, shape each piece into a smaller rectangle.
• Shape the dough by folding the upper left corner towards the center of the square dough, then the right corner towards the center. Next, roll the dough into a log from top to bottom and place it seam-side down onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Dust loaf liberally with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap; let loaf rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position, and place a baking stone on the rack. (I use a cast iron griddle flat side up.) Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees. It's really important to preheat the pan in the oven to ensure even heat and optimal crust results.
• Using a single-edged razor blade, or sharp chef's knife, cut a slit 1/2 inch deep lengthwise along top of loaf, starting and stopping about 1 1/2 inches from the ends. Lightly spray the loaf with water. Slide parchment sheet with loaf onto baker's stone or cast iron griddle in the oven. If you are not using a baking stone or tile, simply place the loaf on a baking sheet in the oven.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees and quickly spin loaf around half way using the edges of the parchment paper.
• Continue to bake until deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. For one large loaf this will be about 35 minutes longer. For two smaller loaves this will be closer to 30 minutes.
• When the bread is done, transfer it to a wire rack and discard the parchment paper. If you'd like a butter crust, immediately wipe the end of a stick of butter over the crust until coated. Now the hardest part - cool the loaf to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Steps:

• BREAD MACHINE DIRECTIONS
• PLACE all ingredients except cornmeal and egg white in bread machine pan according to manufacturer's directions. Process on DOUGH setting.
• SPRINKLE ungreased cookie sheet with cornmeal. At end of dough cycle, remove dough from machine. Place on lightly floured surface. Punch down dough. (If dough is sticky, knead in additional flour before shaping.) Cover dough with clean cloth. Let rest for 15 minutes. Shape dough into baguette-shaped loaf about 12 inches long. Place loaf on cornmeal-coated cookie sheet. Cover. Let rise in warm place (80 degrees to 85 degrees F) for 20 to 25 minutes or until light and doubled in size.
• HEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Make 1 deep lengthwise slash with sharp knife in top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg white. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
• CONVENTIONAL OVEN METHOD
• SPOON flour lightly into measuring cup. Level off. Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl. Mix well. Add warm water and oil. Mix well. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough 10 minutes or until smooth. Place dough in lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 degrees to 85 degrees F) for 30 to 40 minutes.
• SPRINKLE ungreased cookie sheet with cornmeal. Punch down dough. Cover dough with inverted bowl and allow to rest on counter 15 minutes. Shape dough into baguette-shaped loaf about 12 inches long. Place dough on cornmeal-coated cookie sheet. Cover. Let rise in warm place 35 to 40 minutes or until doubled in size.
• HEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Make 1 deep lengthwise slash with sharp knife in top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg white. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
• High Altitude (3500 ft.):
• No change.

Steps:

• 1. To Make Sponge: In a small bowl stir together 1/8 teaspoon of the yeast and the warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In a bowl stir together yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the water, and 1cup of the bread flour. Stir 4 minutes, then over bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand at cool room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• 2. To Make Bread: In a small bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together milk mixture, sponge, water, oil, and flour at low speed until flour is just moistened; add salt and mix until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• 3. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.) Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and cut in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers and dust tops with flour. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• 4. At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone on oven rack in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425*F. (220*C).
• 5. Transfer 1 loaf on its parchment to a rimless baking sheet with a long side of loaf parallel to far edge of baking sheet. Line up far edge of baking sheet with far edge of stone or tiles, and tilt baking sheet to slide loaf with parchment onto back half of stone or tiles. Transfer remaining loaf to front half of stone in a similar manner. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool loaves on a wire rack.
• My Note: * The second time I made the sponge I left it right next to a warm stove top and it rose very quickly and made these HUGE air pockets in my finished product. I only left this for 4 hours but the taste and texture were FANTASTIC and the sponge almost spilled over the rim of the bowl! It was a bit difficult to get out of the bowl because of its stickiness but that was to be expected. For those that thought the sponge needed water, it doesn't. It will look just like a clump of dough in the beginning but if you leave it you'll be pleasantly surprised with a bubbling, frothy, sticky sponge. Secondly, I made this recipe cautiously because I expected it to be very difficult to handle, but it was not.
• I prepared the sponge two days in advance and kept it in the fridge. I had no problems with it being too sticky. I cooked it on a pizza stone and basted with water every 5 minutes for a brown, crunchy crust. The parchment did burn a little around the edges while baking, but it was reminiscent of an old Italian bakery.
• The easiest 'real sourdough' recipe; those without 'aging' of dough lack the genuine ciabatta taste, even though they may get the consistancy right. This one gets even better with more than one days aging of the 'sponge'.
• I have fallen in love with making bread these past few months, and this is the best recipe I have have did, by far. I have made at least 12 loaves with this, and every time I make it, my friends devour it instantly. I have modified it a little, though. I found the original recipe to be too dry for my tastes when it came out of the over, so I tripled the olive oil, and it came out moist and delicious. Add more oil to the recipe and you're in great shape. I love this bread! It was a little involved as far as prep time but it was easy, GOOD, and tasted just like what we had eaten in Florence! I will make it again. For 15 people I made 6 loaves with enough left over for dinner the next night.