Ciabatta.

Prepare the poolish: whisk poolish flour, water, and yeast until smooth; cover and ferment 12-16 hours until bubbly and slightly domed.

• Use just 0.2g of fresh yeast, a pea-sized pinch.
• Whisk until completely smooth; cover loosely.
• Ready when bubbly, domed, and smells boozy: usually 12-16 hours at 18-20°C.

Add final-dough flour, water, and yeast to the poolish; mix until no dry flour remains.

• Pour the final water into the poolish first: it helps loosen it.
• Add flour and yeast and mix until shaggy.
• The mass will look rough. That's fine.

Add salt. Knead until the dough is smooth, elastic, and evenly mixed.

• Add salt once the dough comes together.
• 70% hydration: it will feel wet; use a scraper not dry hands.
• Finish when smooth with some surface shine.

Bulk ferment 2 hours with a stretch-and-fold every 30 minutes (4 sets).

• Every 30 minutes, perform one stretch-and-fold.
• Each fold tightens the structure visibly.
• By the end the dough should be jiggly but strong.

Tip onto a heavily floured surface, gently stretch into a rectangle, and cut into 2 logs with a bench scraper.

• Flour the bench heavily. Ciabatta means 'slipper' for the look, not stickiness.
• Do NOT degas. Gently pat into a rectangle.
• Cut into 2 logs with a floured bench scraper, one clean motion.

Transfer seam-side down onto a floured couche or parchment and rest 45 minutes, uncovered, to form a skin.

• Leave them uncovered. You want a light skin to form.
• The skin helps the crust crackle in the oven.
• They will spread a little; that's the ciabatta shape.

Transfer gently onto a preheated stone and bake at 240°C for 25 min until deep golden and hollow-sounding.

• Preheat the stone for at least 45 minutes at max.
• Add steam (tray of boiling water or ice cubes) for the first 10 minutes.
• Bake until deep gold; the loaves should feel light for their size.

Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing (at least 45 minutes).

• Ciabatta has an extremely wet crumb. It needs time to set.
• Slicing too early gives a gummy texture.
• Listen for the crust crackling as it cools.