Italienisches Ringbrot - Italian Ring Bread - Pane Bistecca

Italienisches   Ringbrot                                    –
Italian Ring Bread
 Diese Ringbrot habe ich schon mehrmals nachgebacken! Es ist
unglaublich gut, auch wenn der Backvorgang ewig lange dauert!
 Es lohnt sich! Ich habe das Rezept bei Petra auf ihrer Seite
 Petras Brotkasten gefunden. Das Brot wird bei mir an Partys
 aufgetischt, denn es ist viel Brotteig, meist mache ich ein
Ringbrot mit ca. 2/3 des Teiges und noch ein “Pfuenderli” mit
  dem Rest. Beim letzten Mal, als ich es an einer Grillparty
auftischte, da war ein Freund von mir dabei. Er ist von Beruf
Bäcker und ich hatte schon Bauchweh, weil ich nicht wusste, ob
 er das Brot liebt. Ich sage nur soviel, das Brot war weg!!!!

                        ************

I have baked this ring bread several times already! It is very
delicious, even though the baking takes forever! I tell you it
is worth it! I used the recipe from Petra from her page Petras
Brotkasten. I usually bake this bread for parties, as it is a
lot of dough. So, I normally bake a ring bread with 2/3 of the
dough and use the rest for a small breakfast bread. Last time
I baked it for a BBQ party, I was very nervous, because one of
my guests was a professional baker. Would he love the bread? I
       tell you one thing, there was nothing left!!!

Petra’s Rezept findet Ihr hier! Es ist viel Text und ich

empfehle Euch, zuerst alles genau durch zu lesen! Und wer
meint, das Brot kann in einem Tag gebacken werden, der irrt.
    Ca 36 Stunden oder länger muss man schon einrechnen.

Eine Änderung habe ich gemacht. Petra sticht im Brot die Mitte
  aus, aber ich mache es auf die italienische Art, bohre ein
   Loch mit der Faust hinein und erweitere es regelmässig.

                        ************

You can find Petra’s recipe here, it’s in German, so I try to
 translate. First of all, read the whole recipe first, before
  beginning. And if you think you can bake this bread in one
   day, you are mistaken. It takes up to 36 hours at least.

                         First Day:
                      255 g warm Water
                     55 g Wheat Starter
                  225 g Strong Bread Flour

In the evening mix the water with the freshly fed starter and
  strong bread flour well with a whisk. Cover the bowl with
cling-foil and let ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours,
                       best overnight.

                        Second Day:
                      565 g cold Water
                      17 g fresh Yeast
                The dough from the first day
                 1130 g strong Bread Flour
                         4 tsp Salt
                      3 tbsp Olive Oil

Give the water and yeast into the bowl of the kitchen machine
and add the flour and dough from yesterday. Knead on low speed
 for 4 minutes, the dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
   Cover the bowl with a rowel and let sit for 20 minutes.
     Then add the salt and let knead again for 4 minutes.
Now you can add the olive oil and knead again on medium speed

for 5 minutes. The dough should now have a temperature of
                           23-25 C.

   Take the dough    out of the bowl and knead it on a floured
 surface by hand    for a few minutes. Wash the bowl, grease it
with some oil and    put the dough back in. Cover with cling-foil
  and let rise at    room temperature for 4 ½ hours. The volume
                           should double.

 Take the dough out of the bowl and cut it into two pieces, I
made mine 1/3 and 2/3. Now bang the pieces each several times
against the working surface to remove the air. Then form flat
pieces by sticking the sides underneath the dough. Cover with
             a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
  Remove the towel and form each piece into a ball, then put
them top down into a floured proofing basket. You can also use
 bowls layered with a floured towel. Sprinkle with flour and
cover each basket with cling-foil. Put it into the fridge for
                           4 hours.
 Take the baskets from the fridge, remove the cling-foil and
   cover with a towel. Let rest for 1 ½ – 2 hours to get a
 temperature of 14-15.5 C. Petra says if you don’t have a big
oven and cannot bake the breads together, work on them 1 hour
                              apart.

  Pre-heat the oven to 260 C, start this approx. 30 minutes
before baking. If you have a baking stone, heat it up too and
      put a baking tray in the lowest part of the oven.

 Take the towel off the baskets and sprinkle them with flour.
  Carefully top the breads out onto a bread ladle, carefully
    remove the towel, if you have used a towel in a bowl.
Petra uses a cookie cutter to take the middle out of her bread
  ring, I used my fist. Just slowly push your fist into the
 middle and slowly make a hole. The hole should be quite big,
 or it will close during the baking process. I made one bread
                  ring and one round bread.

Put the breads into the hot oven, immediately also pour a cup
 of water onto the lower baking tray. Close the oven and turn
the temperature down to 230 C. During the first 5 minutes you
 should also spray the sides of the oven twice with water, to
make steam. Then do not open the oven for the next 20 minutes.
If your oven doesn’t heat regularly, turn the breads and bake
   for another 15 minutes. Total baking time is 40 minutes.
 The breads are golden brown and porous inside, just perfect.