Ciabatta DONE!

So I decided to make home-made bread today. I do this a lot, but it never lasts with 12 people eating it. Today, I chose to make ciabatta bread from this recipe. I always get anxious about trying new bread recipes. I have had one too many disasters to not be!  I started this recipe at about 11am. It had to rise for about 2 hours, and we eat early on Sundays so I started early. Here is the dough after I kneaded it into a ball.

Before 1st rising period

It is placed in an oiled bowl, and moved to the sunniest room in the house. In my case, the dining room. After 30 minutes, I kneaded it again. I think I should have kneaded it a bit longer. I really only gave it about 6 turns over. it probably needs about 10 minutes total. I was in a hurry...oops!

After the 1st knead

Here is the bread after the 2nd kneading. I again placed it in the sunny window of the dining room! It rose there for about 90 minutes more, or until it doubled in size.

After the 2nd rising period

This is when I gently rolled it out onto the tray and stuck it in the oven. I made a few adjustments to this recipe. All I had was pizza dough yeast, so I added vital wheat gluten to it. The box of gluten called for 1 tsp. per cup of flour. I added 3 tsp. of gluten to this. I also needed to add a bit of water to get the sticky texture I was looking for. Again, I should have kneaded it much more. I think this would have made all the difference in the appearance on the outside, although the flavor is great. It baked for about 35 minutes.

In the oven

I should have shaped it a bit more, but I think the kneading I skipped also made a difference.  Below is the finished product. It is REALLY good. I wish it looked better. I am too caught up on things being aesthetically pleasing.

All done!

 We will be eating ours with our beef stew tonight. I cant wait to try this again. We love this type of bread and I have always been convinced that making our bread is easier, cheaper and better than buying it!

ENJOY!