Sourdough Ciabatta with water kefir

Sourdough bread with water kefir is easy to digest and healthier than regular bread due to the symbiosis of of lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and enzymes that transform carbohydrates and proteins into easily digestible substances that our body can use.

Long fermentation makes fermented bread more easily digestible:

most of gluten is metabolized by the enzyme protease,

has a lower glycemic index because most of the sugars are metabolized,

minerals are more accessible due to the action of the enzyme phytase, which triggers the breakdown of phytic acid and releases the minerals,

it has beneficial effects on the body due to the action of lactic acid bacteria.

Try making sourdough bread by yourself using this recipe

To make sourdough starter:

50 g white flour
50 g water kefir
20 g sourdough starter

Leave in the Kefirko at room temperature overnight until it doubles in size. Then it’s ready to prepare dough.

To make dough:

120 g sourdough starter
455 white flour
130 g whole wheat flour
321 g water kefir
12 g fleur de sel (stir into 65 g water kefir)

kefir fermenters — Kefirko jars are perfect to prepare some ingredients for this recipe. Use big jar to ferment water kefir and small one will be perfect for the sourdough starter.

Combination of sourdough starter and water kefir has great power when the dough is proofing. This is the reason the bread does not taste sour even though the fermentation takes long time.

In large bowl add sourdough starter, water kefir and flour. Knead it using the machine or by hand, until all ingredients combine together well. Leave it to rest for an hour for the process of autolysis that develops gluten in the dough. Add fleur de sel dissolved in water kefir and knead until dough starts shining and separates from the bowl well.

sourdough bread kneading — When the sourdough starter doubles in size you can see bubbles forming in it, this shows that there are live microorganisms.

Put it into a well oiled rectangular dish with a lid. In the next pull the dough apart every half hour. This is done in the way that you pull from the front side, lift, pull and fold. Then repeat the procedure on the opposite, left and right side. At last pull the sides into the bottom side and shape it into a circle. Put it back into the dish and cover. Because the dish is well oiled, the dough does not dry out. After two hours put the dish in the cold (10°C) for 12 – 18 hours.

Proof the dough — Once the dough rises in volume for two to three times, continue with work.

Put the dough onto the working surface and separate it into smaller parts. Carefully put each part on the baking sheet and put them into the oven to rise for half hours on 100°C. On the bottom of the oven put cup of boiling water to keep humidity. Once risen, remove the water and heat the oven to 210°C and bake for 15 – 20 minutes. You will notice the nice smell from the oven once the bread is baked. You can take them out once they have nice gold color.
Leave on cooling rack to cool down.

Separate the dough into pieces. Make them the way you like it, smaller for kids, large for adults. Traditional ciabattas are rectangular.

Tip: Use strong quality gluten flour to prepare dough with fermentation process. This will make sure it survives the long procedure and results in crispy bread pastry.

Recipe created Mojca Kuhar from Doberkotkruh.si

Use Kefirko products to preprare sourdough pastries: