## Ciabatta with Poolish 

**JMonkey**

This traditional Italian bread is made from a very wet dough and is
barely shaped. As a result, it's full of nice, big holes. Great with
olive oil or a good-tasting vinegar, and some pasta. This recipe was
adapted from _Bread_ by Jeffrey Hammelman.

**Formula**

* White flour: 100%
* Water: 73%
* Salt: 2%
* Instant yeast: 0.36%
* 30% of the flour is pre-fermented as a poolish at 100% hydration
  with .07% yeast

**Poolish**

* White flour: 136 grams or about 1 cup
* Water: 136 grams or about ½ cup
* Instant yeast: Just an eeny weeny pinch (about 1/32 of a tsp or 1/10
  of a gram)

**Final dough**

* All of the poolish
* White flour: 318 grams or two generous cups
* Water: 195 grams or 1.25 cups +1 Tbs
* Salt: 9 grams
* Instant yeast: A heaping 1/8 tsp or .5 grams

**The night before: Preferment**

The night before, dissolve the yeast into the water for the poolish,
and then mix in the flour.  Cover and let it ferment at room
temperature for 12-16 hours.  Once the poolish has bubbles breaking on
top and has started to wrinkle, it's ready.  It'll also smell...
really nice -- sweet and nutty.

**Mixing and dough development**

For the final dough, measure out the water and pour it into the
poolish to loosen it up.  Then pour the entire mixture into a bowl.
Mix together the salt, yeast and flour, and then add it to the bowl as
well.  Mix it all up with a spoon and let it sit for one hour.  At one
hour, give it a stretch and fold, followed by two more every 30
minutes.  Then let it ferment for another hour or two, for a total of
3-4 hours bulk fermentation.

**Shaping**

Remove the dough onto a well-floured surface, and gently pat it out
into a rectangle, carefully degassing any truly gigantic bubbles that
you notice.  That’s it.  No more shaping required.  Let it rest,
covered, for about 90 minutes.

**Baking**

Dimple the loaf with wet fingers all the way across and almost all the
way through to the bottom of the loaf.  Load onto a hot stone at
460\degree F with steam and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes.  Let it rest
one hour before slicing.