Recipes
High-Hydration Sourdough Ciabatta Recipe
Open, irregular crumb and a chewy crust — ciabatta rewards wet dough handling and a hot bake.
Sourdough ciabatta uses very high hydration (80%+), minimal degassing, and a hot stone/steel bake with steam for an open, glossy crumb.
Formula
- 500g bread flour
- 400–425g water (80–85%)
- 100g ripe starter
- 10g salt
Method highlights
Mix using double hydration if needed. Strong early folds, then leave it. Turn onto well-floured bench, cut rectangles gently, rest, and transfer with support. Don't tight-shape like a boule. Bake very hot with steam.
Baker's notes
Weights assume a digital scale. If your kitchen is warmer than ~75°F, expect faster fermentation and consider reducing starter percentage or using cooler water. If colder, extend bulk and rely on dough cues over the clock. Pat mix-ins dry; wet inclusions effectively raise hydration and can wreck strength.
Make-ahead and storage
Shaped dough can usually cold-proof overnight. Baked loaves keep best cut-side down on a board for a day, then bagged. For longer storage, freeze slices or whole loaves and reheat with a light sprinkle of water in a moderate oven.
One thing to remember
Consistency beats intensity: a boring weekly routine outperforms chaotic heroic weekend bakes.
Scaling
Double ingredients by weight, not fermentation time. Larger dough masses hold heat and may finish bulk earlier.
Fermentation cues for this style
Watch volume and bubble structure more than the minute marks. Enriched and inclusion doughs can feel ready differently than lean country loaves — look for airiness without fragility.
Field notes
Treat this topic as a checkpoint inside a full bake, not a standalone trick that overrides fermentation. Whole-grain flour, warmer kitchens, and higher starter percentages all compress timelines — expect that interaction. If results swing wildly, stabilize feeding and room temperature for a week so you can see the signal again. Season the process to your kitchen, then play with inclusions once the base loaf is trustworthy.
Also useful: weigh everything, preheat longer than you think, and cool fully before you judge crumb quality. Those three habits make every other tip more reliable.
Frequently asked questions
Why so sticky?
That's ciabatta — flour the bench and use scrapers; don't knead back into a ball.
No Dutch oven?
Steel/stone + steam is classic for ciabatta.
Sandwich use?
Excellent — toast to reinforce structure.
High-hydration timing is unforgiving — SourdoughAI helps you catch the ferment before it turns to soup.