Not long ago I visited Anarosa’s, a small bakery in Newburyport, Mass. Opened in Aug, 2001 by Bill Malatesta and Jane Kenny they quickly had to deal with a problem that most bakeries, big and small, face at one time or another. Not only was demand for their existing products growing but their customers were asking for a wider variety. The production space at Anarosa’s is extremely limited and any new products were going to have to fit within their already tight schedule. The solution to growing not only their business but also the number of products they could offer was to simplify. They decided to focus on producing a few primary doughs that could be used to make a wide variety of products. In this column we will look at Anarosa’s ciabatta dough and see how they manage to make 4 unique products from it, all fitting within the constraints imposed by their bakery.

Using Anarosa’s ciabatta formula Bill and Jane produce four products: traditional ciabatta (and a smaller ‘ciabattini’), a ‘deep dish’ focaccia, rustica (a thin, more traditional savory focaccia), and large ‘wheels’ of pull-apart rolls. The focaccia, rustica and rolls are topped with with a variety of savory ingredients that can be varied to fit your customer’s tastes.

For the mix a poolish is prepared 15-16 hours ahead. The poolish is ready when it has risen but not yet fallen and should taste ‘sweet’ not bitter. The final mix is prepared by adding all the ingredients to the mixer bowl. In a spiral mixer mix on first speed for 3 - min, and on second speed for 5 to 10 minutes. When finished the dough will be loose but will clearly show some strength.

Because this one dough will be used for multiple products you will have to predetermine how much dough will be needed for each product. Divide all of the dough into bins labeled by final product. All of the dough is given a 2 - hour bulk fermentation with two folds, each 45 minutes apart. The dough will continue to develop strength throughout the fermentation and with each fold. The dough used for ciabatta will be given an additional 1 - hour bulk fermentation with a 3rd fold at 45 minutes.

After the 2 - hour bulk fermentation the dough for the rustica and foccacia is cut into 1# pieces, loosely rounded and allowed to rest for 20 minutes. The dough for the ‘wheels’ is cut into 4# 10oz pieces and pre-shaped into a lose round. Allow a rest for 20 minutes.

The rustica rounds are placed on silicon mats (or parchment), dimpled and then topped with ingredients. Anarosa’s tops theirs with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or garlic and black pepper, or pitted kalamata olives. These are allowed to proof for 45 minutes and then baked in a steamed 460F degree oven.

The “deep dish” foccacia are hand stretched and placed in 9 inch cake pans that contain a generous coating of olive oil. Anarosa’s uses various toppings. My favorite is their “margherita” style which is covered, to the edge, with crushed Italian plum tomatoes and grated pecorino Romano cheese. After the addition of the toppings the foccacia are allowed to proof for 1 hour. They are baked in a 460-degree oven until they are approximately 80% done, then topped with mozzarella, and baked until the cheese is browned.

The dough for the “wheels” of pull-apart rolls are placed in floured pans for a 36- cut Dutchess press with the seam side down. Cut the dough and flip over into a 16 inch ‘pizza pan’. Then flip again so that the cut side is on top. Bill says this will produce a more defined cut in the final product. Lightly coat with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with salt and your choice of seasonings or herbs. Let the wheel proof for 45 minutes and bake in the pan at 460 degrees until the wheel takes on a nice dark color. After the bake remove from the pan and allow to cool.

What makes this production schedule so beneficial is that while your bakers are preparing the above products the ciabatta is continuing its bulk fermentation. After the ciabatta’s final 1-hour fermentation divide the dough into 24 oz pieces for the large ciabatta and 12 oz for the ciabattini. Handle the dough pieces very gently so as not to de- gas them, and place on well floured linen. Proof for approximately 45 minutes or until ready for the oven. Carefully flip the ciabatta dough onto the loader so that the side that was facing the linen is now facing up. Steam the oven and bake at 460 degrees for about 35 minutes. Exhaust the steam for the final 15 minutes. Bake fully, otherwise the ciabatta will soften once it cools.

Looking at the picture of the final results you can see the variety of items that can be produced from this one dough. While the scheduling may have to be modified to fit your own production needs there is flexibility inherent in this product mix to allow its incorporation into even the tightest schedules. And not to be overlooked, a final benefit of this product mix is the profitability is considerably higher than if all of the dough were used for ciabatta. The foccacia, rustica, and rolls are rendered high profit items because of the simple addition of toppings. The ciabatta, while lower in unit profitability is a high volume seller. So, simplifying the production schedule doesn’t result in compromise, rather it fulfills the needs of the customers, fits Anarosa’s production schedule and yields a profitable product mix.