Been hearing a lot about this puppy, decided to give it a shot; questions remain, but a good basic starting point. This halved version of the recipe was a good amount; half of that was a good-sized loaf, and the rest could be refrigerated until next time, which I'd like to try for flavor anyways.
Rising: This straight up did not rise the way it was supposed to. Not sure if I should have left it for longer (Mark Bittman's recipe would suggest yes), if my yeast is funky, if it wasn't warm enough out in the kitchen, or what. Not sure. So yeah, it was pretty flat, but it still tasted good! The slashes made little to no difference as far as I could tell, which I have to believe is a result of the non-rise.
Shaping: This is very, very wet, and I did not shape it as well as I wanted to. LOTS of flour should be used during this step, and don't let that dough be the boss of you! I suspect if I had been more aggressive in pulling it around to be the shape I wanted, it would have risen better.
Crust/baking: I put it on a cookie sheet, on cornmeal, and it came out fine. As Budget Bytes suggested I brushed it with water and the crust was good, but soft and not beautifully artisan--try the steam on the pan next time.
Frankly, I don't understand the aversion to kneading--it's fun and it feels good!--but this is an interesting method with reasonably good results, and one that I definitely want to experiment with, especially since it uses AP flour. Try her no-knead ciabatta also, although it requires whole wheat and bread flour.
Breadtime
No-knead ciabatta
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