Big hit with the family! Thank you for the excellent recipe. I have been experiementing with this recipe and found that the dough is a lot less sticky and easier to deal with when using cold water (from fridge) instead of room temperature. The bread also turned out much softer on the inside with this method. I also brushed the loaves with water every 5 minutes which made the crust more tough and chewy. I also baked at 425 for the first 15 minutes and then 475 for the last 10. During the last 10 minutes I brushed each loaf with olive oil and continued to brush with water every 5. Everyone loved it and my husband said I should stop making other breads and just make this one only! Thanks again! 5 Solid Stars *****

So yumm! Yes a bit sticky, but with some flour on the board and my hands it was not a problem. Both loaves rose beautifully and had lots of even holes throughout. It was so good that my trial slice turned into half the loaf! Will be making this again, although next time will reduce the temp and cook for a bit longer as the loaves browned very quickly.

I had no trouble making this recipe. I didn't have bread flour so I sifted regular flour right into the bread pan. Perhaps that helped with the stickiness others are reporting. It wasn't too sticky at all, just a bit. However, my husband and I agreed that it didn't have much taste to it. Was rather bland for us.

I make this in my bread machine and add a bit more flour as I knead/shape it so it is as firm as other breads I make. It's become my default bread for home, pot lucks, etc. I bake it with a pan of hot water in the oven, cool it about an hr. then bag it so the crust becomes nice and chewy.

My ciabatta turned out fantastic. I was really impressed. Two large yummy loaves. Thank you!

Followed the directions and the Ciabatta turned out perfect! No longer need to buy the expensive bread. Thanks.

I really wish I had read the reviews of the people who rated this recipe 1-star because it seems as though I have the same problem. This dough is incredibly sticky and it is impossible to work with. I managed to get it split into 2 pieces and onto the pan, I covered with a clean tea towel as I always do when making bread and even though I floured the bread, the towel completely stuck and deflated. It would not rise again and I ended up throwing the whole batch in the garbage. I really have no idea how some people have had such great results....for me, this was just a complete waste of ingredients.

What a fantastic, simple recipe! The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. It really wasn't runny our soupy like many people have said and the recipe predicted, but the texture turned out perfectly, so I'm not worried. Instead of two large loaves, I split the dough into 6 equal loaves, which ended up being PERFECT for sandiches. I've since begun substituting 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour to give a little extra 'healthy,' and making the total amount of flour 3 1/2 cups (and extra 1/4 cup). Still turns out excellent, and doesn't change the texture a bit!

This was amazing. Everyone loved it. It had a nice crunchy crust with a tender and soft inside filled with air bubbles. The dough is not that wet, I think people exaggerate or just don't like baking bread that much. I just dumped it out of the bread machine, let it rise, then stretched it (make sure to flour your fingers) into 4x12 loaves and let it rise again. I followed the recipe exactly. There is minimal touching involved. Easy and super delicious.

This bread is the best. A lot of work is taken out by the machine and I can still keep my hands in, if you will, by only using the dough cycle. I will say that I put a round cake pan full of water in the oven rather than spritzing as it was easier. It freed me up to do other things. Again, great bread.

The quantities I used are (from my Phillips breadmaker book): 1 tsp yeasr 500g white bread flour 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt 350ml water As this has slightly less water and slightly more flour, it is easier to work with - still a bit sticky but not runny. I don't know if the end product is better or worse as I haven't tried the other quantities. You can use it to make a normal-sized loaf if you have an Italian bread setting on your breadmaker. I was looking for an easy way to make ciabatta-shaped ciabatta and this recipe is easy and works! Thanks.

although I read thru the reviews warning me about the very wet dough, I must have missed something because the dough was SO wet that I couldn't shape it. The end result was 'ok' - but more doughy and not as light as ciabattas should be. What did I do wrong?

A big hit. Mine didn't turn out with large holes, but then, we didn't care. I used 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat flour and a little gluten flour (1 Tbsp). It was a spongy dough, but not runny. I covered it with plastic wrap and a towel for the resting period. I also use waxed paper with flour on it instead of a floured board. It was easy to pick up the edges of the paper when it came time to transfer it onto a stone for baking. We will definitely bake this one again. Thanks Marina

This is very good bread. I will make this whenever I do not have the time to make the sponge. However, my preference is to make the sponge for ciabatta; the dough is much easier to work.

This was really good! My dough wasn't all that sticky when it came out of the machine....more plastic-like than anything. It was even difficult to shape. But once baked this bread was amazing! I think next time I will make buns out of it.

Love it! I cannot seem to find ciabatta bread locally, and I miss it, so I am thrilled for this recipe. Just like I remember from when I was growing up.