Ciabatta Bread

FORMULA:

BIGA
1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, at room temperature

DOUGH
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
3/4 cup (6 ounces) water, at room temperature
1/4 cup (2 ounces) milk, at room temperature

PROCESS:

FOR THE BIGA: Combine flour, yeast, and water in medium bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees) overnight (at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours).

FOR THE DOUGH: Place Biga and dough ingredients in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed until roughly combined and shaggy dough forms, about 1 minute; scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Continue mixing on medium-low speed until dough becomes uniform mass that collects on paddle and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 6 minutes. Change to dough nook and knead bread on medium speed until smooth and shiny (dough will be very sticky), about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with non-stick cooking spray; fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough six more times (total of eight turns). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat folding, replace plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes longer. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees at least 30 minutes before baking.

Cut two 12- by 6-inch pieces of parchment paper and liberally dust with flour. Transfer dough to liberally floured counter, being careful not to deflate completely. Liberally flour top of dough and divide in half. Turn 1 piece of dough so cut side is facing up and dust with flour. With well-floured hands, press dough into rough 12- by 6-inch shape. Fold shorter sides of dough toward center, overlapping them like business letter to form 7-by 4-inch loaf. Repeat with second dough piece. Gently transfer each loaf seam side down to parchment sheets, dust with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. Let loaves sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (surfaces of loaves will develop small bubbles).

Slide parchment with loaves onto inverted rimmed baking sheet or pizza peel. Using floured fingertips, evenly poke entire surface of each loaf to form 10- by 6-inch rectangle; spray loaves lightly with water. Carefully slide parchment with loaves onto baking stone using jerking motion. Bake, spraying loaves with water twice more during first 5 minutes of baking time, until crust is deep golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into centers of loaves registers 210 degrees, 22 to 27 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, discard parchment, and cool loaves to room temperature, about 1 hour, before slicing and serving.

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

FORMULA:
6 Cups Warm Water (115 degrees - warmer than warm, but not hot)
2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2/3 Cup Honey
2 T Salt
3 T Dough Enhancer
1/3 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten (Reduce to 4 T if you are using a Bosch)
3 T SAF Instant Yeast
Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Flour - Hard White Wheat or Hard Red Wheat (approx. 16-20 cups of flour) 1 cup of wheat = 1 1/2 cups of four

PROCESS:

In mixer bowl with the dough hook, place warm water, oil, honey, salt, dough enhancer, gluten, and yeast. Mix at medium speed. Add cups of flour (most within 30 sec) until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Do not add too much flour - the dough should be sticky at this point. Set a timer and continue to mix the dough for 8 minutes. As the machine kneads the dough, it activates the gluten and eventually pulls away completely from the sides and bottom of bowl. Activating the gluten meants that the dough will only require one rising befor baking.

Oil hands, remove dough from the mixer onto an oiled counter, and divide the dough into 2 lb. loaves. If using a regular size bread pan, you will ahve 5 loaves of bread. If using sandwich loaf pan, you will have 4 loaves of bread. As you shape the loave, slap the dough to relax it, and then drop the loaf into a well-greased pan (butter coated). Cover with dry towel and let rise until double in size (approx. 1 inch above the rim of the pan). This should take about 1 hour. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the inside temp. is 200. Cool on cooking rack before placing into bread bag.

Breadsticks: Roll dough into finger-thin ropes and cut to desired length. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with desired topping - Parmesan Cheese, Garlic Salt or Powder, salad seasoning, Italian Seasoning, Sesame Seeds. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Let rise 10-15 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Cinnamon Pull Aparts: Pinch dough off into walnut size balls. Dip in melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar misture (1 T. cinnamon to 1/2 c. brown sugar). Place balls in layers (2 layers deep) in regular loaf pan, bundt pan, or small bread pan. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min.