How to bake a chabattu

[For the test:]

Ciabatta / Chabatta
Today we have an unprecedented event - a recipe for shamelessly white bread - Italian chabatta! But as an example of working with wet dough and kneading it in the Ankarsrum dough mixer, it is ideal. In addition, admit, despite the ardent love for healthy whole-grain bread, it is still difficult to pass by chabatta (this is the correct pronunciation, I was not mistaken), this is not bread, but magic! The dough is silk, stretches with transparent films, puffs up with bubbles, fluid and elastic at the same time, the bread is porous and spongy, but not as pliable as a feather bed. At the same time, the taste of the bread is also surprising: there is no butter or sugar in it, but it is so delicate and creamy, and how beautiful it is!



Many people are afraid to bake chabattu because the recipe seems very complicated, working with it is frightening, it is hard to believe that the longed-for "holes" in bread will turn out. In fact, everything is not so difficult, you just need to know how to do it right, and then everything will work out. Let's get started?

For dough you need:
150 gr. wheat white flour;
150 gr. water;
10 gr. rye or wheat starter.

I baked two options at once, one with thick Italian sourdough (disposal of leftovers) and the second - with 100% sourdough., I will stay in more detail on the second option. Dissolve the starter in water, add flour and stir, cover with foil and leave overnight. In the morning we should have a lush sourdough with lots of bubbles.



For the test:
All leaven (dough);
315 gr. white wheat flour;
215 gr. water (warm, about 30 degrees);
10 gr. salt;
½ tsp. bio-yeast + a pinch of sugar.

If you are against yeast to the bone, do not take yeast, and without it everything will work out (but longer), but initially the recipe assumes the presence of it. The dough according to this recipe turns out to be rather moist, therefore, in order to be convenient to work with it, you need to know a few tricks.

Kneading... I mixed with a stationary scraper and a hook, most often I use the hook.

Weigh all the ingredients in separate containers, pour part of the water (50-70 grams) into a cup, add a small pinch of sugar, add yeast, stir and set aside. After 15 minutes, a small yeast cap should appear in the cup.



This cup of water is strategically important, if you will be using yeast that does not need to be activated, pour out some water (yeast yeast) anyway to add it during kneading, this will help get a firmer, less fluid dough.

Pour the rest of the water into the kneader bowl, dissolve the leaven, sift the flour and turn on the kneader at minimum speed for a couple of minutes. The contents of the bowl should first turn into a lumpy mass, then, as the flour is stirred and moistened, into a sticky dough. Turn off the kneader, cover the bowl with a wide bag to prevent the dough from drying out and leave for 20 minutes.



After 20 minutes add half of the yeast water and salt (do not mix yeast water with salt, salt inhibits the yeast), start kneading at the third speed. When the added water is fully combined with the dough, add the rest of the water (with or without yeast) and continue kneading for another 7 minutes, maximum 10.



The finished dough will be silky and flowing, if left alone for a few minutes, it immediately spreads along the bottom of the bowl.

First remove the scraper from the kneader, then the hook, and then, using the hand scraper, remove the dough and transfer to a bowl greased with vegetable oil. Fold the dough, tighten into a ball and lay to fit. The dough will begin to creep out almost immediately.



Fermentation 2.5-3 hours, during this time it is desirable to fold the dough at least three times.But if you notice that the dough “weakens” and becomes more fluid during fermentation, fold it every half hour. By the end of fermentation, it should become lush and bubbles should appear inside it.



Powder the work surface well with flour and lay out the dough. Sprinkle it with flour and gently stretch it into a rectangle. I worked with the dough on a floured towel, on which I sometimes let the dough stand.



Divide the dough into two parts with a scraper, shape the pieces by overlapping the dough. I also tucked the long ends of the dough to fit under my hood. If necessary, transfer the blanks to a floured linen towel (if not molded on it).





Make towel bumpers around the blanks so that the blanks do not stick together or spread, provide support for the extreme sides, sprinkle the chabatta with flour. Free time proving 1.5 hours. During this time, I checked the blanks a couple of times to make sure they did not stick to the towel and sprinkled the problem areas with flour.



Preheat the oven to 230-240 degrees along with the stone, I warmed up for 40 minutes, as usual. If you plan to bake under a hood or in a rooster, and your “hood” has thick walls, then, like a rooster, you need to heat it together with the oven, that is, preheat it in advance. Carefully transfer the blanks or one blank onto the parchment (I baked one by one, so I shifted one blank) and turn it over to the other side so that the bubbles in the dough are evenly distributed (and so they will be concentrated in the upper part of the bread). Here it is important not to stretch the workpiece, you need to take it from the long sides so that it folds like an "accordion" on the contrary, and gently level it on the parchment. The first 15 minutes of baking with steam or under a hood, after 15 minutes remove the steam without lowering the temperature, bake for another 15 minutes.



Wait until it cools down at least to warm, and cut, cut, do not regret! This is a wonderful bread)) Try to bake it, it's a great pleasure!



Peaceful skies and delicious bread


Author Elena Zheleznyak 🔗

Aaaaa, Tanya well, how can you spread such beauty !!!
Well this is a uniform mockery!
Immediately I want to take all this beauty away !!! ...
And if in truth, thanks for such a detailed MK,
maybe I have the courage to repeat such beauty, at least in an approximate version!
Definitely in

[Ksyusha]

Ksyusha, bites to your health! I will wait for your bread!

The dough is silk, stretches with transparent films, puffs up with bubbles, fluid and elastic at the same time, the bread is porous and spongy, but not as pliable as a feather bed.

Just a poem to the test! Thanks for describing the process.
And what about those unfortunate (me) who do not know what a starter is? But you want to bake
I will look for what a starter is and I will bake!

and if there is no kneader, then it is useless to try ???!

My dream! there is something to strive for))))

[Dough for dough, aka Biga in Italy, aka Starter in English-speaking countries, is a liquid dough solution that makes it easier for the yeast to revive.]

And what about those unfortunate (me) who does not know what a starter is? But you want to bake
I will look for what a starter is and I will bake!

Dough for dough, aka Biga in Italy, aka Starter in English-speaking countries, is a liquid dough solution that makes it easier for the yeast to revive. This is due to the fact that it is easier for yeast bacteria to breathe in a liquid medium, respectively, it is easier to process sugar and start the process of life. At the same time, bubbles of carbon dioxide are released, the size and quantity of which, subsequently, will affect the splendor of the bread and the appearance of the crumb.

How to make a dough
Pour a glass of warm (30-35 degrees C) water into a spacious bowl, add a bag of dry yeast, a teaspoon of sugar and stir. It is important to maintain the temperature of the water - in too cold water, yeast bacteria will not be able to wake up and begin to multiply, and in hot water they will simply die. Add 2-3 tablespoons of flour to the resulting water-yeast solution and stir until the lumps are completely dissolved. Important! The consistency of the solution should not be thicker than the liquid sour cream itself.
Cover the bowl with the future dough with a clean napkin and leave in a warm place. After 20-30 minutes, the dough is ready and you can start kneading the dough.

Tatiana, thank you!

Thanks for your recipes!
I use them with pleasure. And the chabatta is one of them.
I bake only with sourdough, it turns out ... my family and I are happy!

Oh, what cool holes in the bread! Natasha, health to the whole family, bake some more!

Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
This is the second time I've baked a chabattu - everyone is delighted!

and if there is no kneader, then it is useless to try ???!

You can do without a kneader.
I knead the dough with my hands for lack of an apparatus.

I knead the dough with my hands for lack of an apparatus.

Angelica, can you give more details

Angelica, can you give more details

With manual kneading, the video posted in the topic helped me a lot Kneading bread dough (wheat and wheat-rye) in a combine and manually... It shows the entire process of manually kneading wet dough, as for chabatta, using the same techniques as described in this recipe - resting the dough and introducing liquid in parts.

And at what stage can you add olives and sun-dried tomatoes?








My bread