Watch Chef Patty Zagorski shape ciabatta! 🍞#ICECulinary #ciabatta #anyonecancook #chef #bread

In the professional bakery, mastering high-hydration doughs is a critical benchmark. Ciabatta, famous for its open, irregular crumb and crisp crust, presents a unique handling challenge due to its wet, sticky nature. In this demonstration, Chef Patty Zagorski from the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) focuses on the delicate art of shaping ciabatta, showcasing the precise physical handling required to turn a slack dough into perfectly formed rustic slippers without destroying the internal gas structure.

Preserving the Alveolar Structure

The defining characteristic of an exceptional ciabatta is its light, airy interior. This open crumb relies on the carbon dioxide trapped during fermentationFermentationA biological process in which microorganisms transform sugars and other compounds, creating acidity, gas, alcohol or complex flavours.. When handling doughs with hydration levels often exceeding 80 percent, the natural instinct is to add excess flour or overwork the dough to make it more manageable. Chef Zagorski’s method emphasizes minimal intervention to protect this delicate structure.

To successfully shape the dough, the work surface must be generously dusted with flour, providing a barrier that prevents sticking while keeping the dough itself light. The dough is gently turned out and stretched into a rough rectangle. Instead of rough pressing, chefs must use a light touch, using the pads of their fingers to gently coax the dough into shape rather than pushing down and degassing the delicate network of air pockets. This preserves the essential bubbles that create the classic pocketed crumb.

Division and Transfer Techniques

Once the dough is lightly shaped, division must be clean and swift. Using a well-floured bench scraper, the dough is cut into traditional slipper shapes. A hesitant cut will drag the wet dough, tearing the gluten structure and causing the loaf to lose its tension.

After cutting, each portion is carefully transferred. This step requires absolute confidence; the dough must be lifted swiftly, sometimes with a slight flip, and placed onto a floured proofing cloth, or couche. The couche supports the sides of the wet dough, forcing it to rise upwards rather than spreading outwards. Once fully proofed, the slippers are transferred to a peel or baking sheet, ready to hit the hot deck oven where the final oven spring completes the bake.