Jason's Ciabatta Bread

I could probably live happily off bread and soup! And this recipe is as easy as gets.
This is a formula originally posted on usenet in the great alt.bread.recipes group by Jason Molina all credit to him and to The Fresh Loaf


500g bread flour
475g (~2 cups) water
2 tsp. yeast
15g salt


In Kitchen Aid style mixer: Mix all ingredients roughly till combined with paddle, let it rest for 10 minutes.
With the paddle beat well, it will start out like pancake batter but in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes it will set up and work like a very sticky dough.

Place into a well oiled container and let it triple in size - about 2 1/2 hours.

Empty on to a floured counter cut into 3 or 4 peices. Spray with oil and dust with lots of flour. Let them prove for about 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes or so the loaves should be puffy and wobbly. Pick up and stretch into your final ciabatta shape (~10" oblong rectangle) and flip them upside down (this redistributes the bubbles, so you get even bubbles throughout), and onto parchment or a heavily floured peel. Try to do it in one motion and be gentle, it might look like you've ruined them completely, but the oven spring is immense on these things.

Bake at 500F until they are 205F in the cnter (about 15-20 minutes), rotating 180 degrees half way through. Some people like to turn the oven down to 450F after 10 minutes.