Pan de Cristal
Pan De Cristal is a very popular type of bread, similar to ciabatta but with much higher hydration (about 100% hydration). Yes, it’s not a mistake. The amount of water in the dough is the same as the amount of flour. This can be achieved with the proper dough handling skills and a good, strong flour. Strong flour can hold way more water than you think.
This bread actually tastes much better the following day, which means it doesn’t get stale, because of its hydration.
| Ready in: 4-5 hours | Serves: 4-6 people |
| Yield: 2 x 300g pan de cristal loaves | Units: US, E |
Ingredients
Biga (Preferment)
- 90g water
- 150g bread flour
- 0.2g dry instant yeast
Main Dough
- 240g biga (all)
- 150g bread flour
- 150g water + 60g extra water
- 6g salt
- 2g dry instant yeast
Directions
Night before
Biga Preparation Step
- 5 pm in container add yeast to water, add flour, whisk all together, form as uneven ball, cover the lid, let the biga ferment at room temp till next morning.
Next morning
Dough preparation steps
- 9 am By this time biga has to double or more in volume and have a loose structure.
- Mix water, all biga, dry instant yeast, salt and all flour. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 minutes until well incorporated. Start adding extra water little by little. The process of adding extra water is called bassinage, it helps to tighten up gluten.
Note: don’t rush, let the dough absorb all the water and wrap the dough hook, before adding next portion of water. Be patient. Total mixing during addition of water should take about 20 min. on medium high speed.
- At the end of mixing, the dough has to come up together and become smooth.
- Oil the container with olive oil, transfer the dough into the square or rectangular container, close the lid.
- Leave to rest for 30 minutes at 78-82F /26-28C.
- 9:30 am wet your hands and perform 1st stretch and fold.
- 10 am 2nd stretch and fold.
- 10:30 am 3rd stretch and fold.
- 11 am 4th stretch and fold and let the dough rest for 30-45 min.
- By this time dough has to increase by 100% -150% in volume (double).
- Note: if the volume of the dough didn’t reach 100% mark, let the dough ferment longer.
Preshaping and shaping steps
- Generously sprinkle table and the dough with rice flour, turn container on the floured surface.
- Fold the dough in half (flourless parts one to each other).
- Using the scraper divide the dough in 2 equal parts. Sprinkle more flour o top and all around breads.
- Now transfer each shaped dough onto a proofing couche. Cover loaves with kitchen towel. Let them proof for 30min to 1 hour.
- Perform poke test to check the readiness. Give the dough a gentle but assertive poke. If the dough springs back right away, let it rise for a few more minutes. If the dough springs back slowly, like it’s waking up from a long nap, and your poke leaves a small indentation, it’s ready to go.
- During proofing time start to preheat oven 500F with baking stone inside and iron tray on the bottom rack for 1 hour.
- When the oven is hot and pan de cristal loaves are proofed enough, flip them over on a parchment paper( bottom side should be on the top, and top part should be on the bottom.
- Prepare 10 ice cubes.
- Act fast, open the oven, transfer pan de cristal on to the baking stone, dump the ice cubes into the tray and put it on the bottom rack, close the oven door.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Lower the temperature to 475F, open the oven door, remove the tray with excess water. Bake for 15 more minutes.
- Let your bread to cool down.
Enjoy 😉
Pan de Cristal (Glass Bread)
1108kcal
Ingredients
Biga (Preferment – Prepare Night Before)
- 90 g Water
- 150 g Bread Flour
- 0.2 g Dry Instant Yeast
The Main Dough (Next Morning)
- 240 g Prepared Biga all of it
- 150 g Bread Flour
- 150 g Water
- 60 g Extra water reserved strictly for the bassinage step
- 6 g Salt
- 2 g Dry Instant Yeast
- Rice flour kept separate, used generously purely for surface dusting
Equipment
- Stand Mixer Essential for managing 100% hydration
- Square or Rectangular Glass/Plastic Container with a tight lid
- Baking Stone or heavy baking steel
- Iron Tray or Deep Metal Pan placed on the bottom rack for steam generation
- Proofing Couche or a clean, structured linen kitchen towel
Method
Biga Preparation (Night Before)
- 5:00 PM: In your square container, dissolve the 0.2g of dry instant yeast into 90g of water. Stir in the 150g of bread flour and mix until it aggregates into an uneven, rough dough ball. Seal the container with its lid and let the preferment develop at room temperature overnight until the next morning.
Bassinage Mixing and Structural Folds (Day 2)
- 9:00 AM: Look inside the container; the biga should have more than doubled in volume and display a highly relaxed, loose, bubbly structure.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the 150g of initial water, all of the mature biga, 2g of dry instant yeast, 6g of salt, and the remaining 150g of bread flour. Mix on low speed (or speed 3 on a KitchenAid) for 5 to 6 minutes until the ingredients are fully integrated.
- Begin adding your 60g of reserved extra water very gradually, just a splash at a time. This process is called bassinage. Do not add the next portion of water until the dough has fully absorbed the previous splash and wrapped itself back around the mixing hook. Mix on medium-high speed; this entire gradual incorporation process should take roughly 20 continuous minutes until the dough pulls together smoothly.
- Lightly coat a rectangular container with olive oil and carefully transfer the wet dough inside. Close the lid tightly and let it rest for 30 minutes at 78–82°F (26–28°C).
- 9:30 AM: Wet your hands thoroughly with water to prevent sticking, and perform your 1st stretch-and-fold directly inside the container.
- 10:00 AM: Perform your 2nd wet-handed stretch-and-fold session.
- 10:30 AM: Perform your 3rd wet-handed stretch-and-fold session.
- 11:00 AM: Perform your 4th and final stretch-and-fold session. Close the lid and let the dough sit undisturbed for 30 to 45 minutes. By the end of this period, the dough must increase by 100% to 150% in volume (at least doubling). If it hasn’t expanded sufficiently, allow it to ferment slightly longer.
Preshaping, Flipping, and High-Heat Steam Baking
- Generously dust your clean work surface and the top of the puffed dough with rice flour. Gently invert the container to tip the high-hydration dough out onto the floured surface.
- Fold the dough cleanly in half, bringing the non-floured wet sections tightly against each other. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough cleanly down the middle into 2 equal loaves. Dust additional rice flour over the tops and raw cut edges.
- Carefully lift and transfer each shaped loaf onto a floured proofing couche. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel and let them proof for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Perform a gentle poke test: if the indentation bounces back slowly and leaves a tiny dimple, it is ready.
- While the loaves are proofing, place your baking stone on the center oven rack and your empty iron steam tray on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven completely to 500°F (260°C) for a full hour. Prepare 10 standard ice cubes.
- Once the oven is piping hot, flip the proofed pan de cristal loaves over directly onto a sheet of parchment paper so that the original bottom side is now facing upward on top.
- Working quickly, open the oven door and slide the parchment paper with the loaves onto the preheated baking stone. Immediately dump the 10 ice cubes straight into the hot bottom tray to create an intense cloud of steam, and quickly lock the oven door.
- Bake with steam at 500°F (260°C) for exactly 10 minutes. Drop the temperature down to 475°F (245°C), open the oven briefly to remove the water tray containing any un-melted ice, and bake dry for an additional 15 minutes until the crust turns golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
Nutrition
Calories1108kcalCarbohydrates218gProtein41gFat5gSaturated Fat1gPolyunsaturated Fat2gMonounsaturated Fat1gCholesterol9mgSodium444mgPotassium409mgFiber8gSugar1gVitamin A14IUVitamin C0.2mgCalcium64mgIron3mg
Notes
- The Science of Bassinage: Trying to add all 210g of water to the flour right at the start of mixing would result in a soup-like batter that could never develop a coherent gluten network. By establishing a strong dough foundation first using a lower hydration, you can gradually sneak the remaining 60g of extra water in using the bassinage technique. This systematic approach allows the developed gluten strands to stretch and hold the high water volume securely.
- Why Rice Flour is Essential: High-hydration doughs like pan de cristal are incredibly sticky and liquefy easily on a counter. Traditional wheat flour absorbs into wet dough quickly, which can make it heavy. Dusting your table and dough generously with rice flour provides a protective, non-stick barrier that doesn’t melt into the dough mass, allowing you to handle, shape, and cut the delicate loaves cleanly. It also creates a beautiful contrast and prevents burning under extreme heat.
- Troubleshooting Flat Pancake Dough: If your dough looks like runny pancake batter and refuses to hold its shape during the stretch-and-fold stages, your flour’s protein content is likely too weak or it hasn’t been kneaded long enough. This recipe requires a very strong bread flour (ideally 12.7% protein or higher) to absorb 100% hydration. Be sure to spend the full 20 minutes on medium-high speed during the mixing phase until the dough pulls away from the bowl sides completely.
- The Inversion Step Before Baking: Right before sliding the proofed loaves into the oven, you must flip them upside down onto your parchment paper. Flipping forces the large, delicate gas pockets that accumulated at the top during proofing down to the base of the loaf. As the intense 500 degree Fahrenheit stone heat hits the bottom, those trapped gas bubbles expand rapidly upward through the wet dough, creating the classic honeycomb structure.
Tried this recipe?
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I’m gonna give this a try tomorrow! Thank you!
Your email handle is quite possibly the greatest I’ve ever seen. 👓⚡️♾️
Can I substitute with sourdough starter??
Great recipe, we have this type of bread in Portugal and it’s referred as “water bread” because of the high water percentage. I do have a question: I have a steam oven (a Wolf), I’m assuming I can just use the steam bread option? Thanks
You are always amazing with your great recipes and they make me feel like cooking, thank you🙏
This is the first time I’m trying your bread recipe. Seems like your starter or biga is to dry. we’ll see you tomorrow morning.
Did you bake on the parchment paper.
Curious why the rice flour?
Doesn’t burn as easily.
I have a math question:
The first stretch and fold should be started at 10am.
If at 9am we start making the dough and after a few minutes we start the 20 minutes bassiniage process then at 9:30 the dough will be ready to rest for half an hour. As a result the first stretch and fold can’t start earlier than 10am.
Did I understand the process correctly or I’m missing something?
Thanks again for this great recipe. I had tried before and it was a total failure. This time it’s a success. They are fresh out of the oven and it’s wow!
You just gave me a hope. I am an amazing bread baker , for 5 years. Do all kinds of sourdough breads …Pan de Crystal has been a failure for me over 7 times . Just doesn’t work, the dough never becomes thicker and I am ready to give up . We shall see
I wish there was a way to print this .
Right click anywhere on the webpage and when the context menu pops up, click ‘Print’. You’ll get a printout of the entire webpage.
Can I use wet sourdough starter ??
how can I measure 0.2 grams of yeast?
I don’t use instant yeast, can I do this with active dry?
What kind of flour do you use? I just tried this with King Arthur Sir Lancelot and it was a foamy liquid mess that never came together.
It has to be a high protein flour which bread flour is known to be. Shouldn’t be using typical all-purpose flour for this. I use King Arthur Bread Flour which has 12.7% protein. There are other brands that have high protein counts as well. https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/bread-flour
This is my kryptonite. I’ve followed this and other recipes to the letter and always end up with pancake batter. No clue where I’m going wrong and more “kneading”—really it’s just stirring at this point lol—doesn’t seem to work. Maybe the flour isn’t fresh enough? I give up.
same problem here!
the result was a very very liquid dough despite all folds, impossible to handle and it never fully baked (stayed in the oven for 40 minutes and still the blade is coming out dirty)
must be a problem with the water quantity
Same for me: pancakes dough as a result
This bread hits all my desires…deep flavor, thick crackly crust, and glassy light interior with big holes. The overnight biga is a huge part of the flavor development. I use regular active dry yeast, tap water, kosher salt, and a 80%/20% Cairnspring Mills Trailblazer/Espresso flour blend I mix myself. I found that I have to do at least 2x the number of coil folds called for in the recipe, rely on a good long mix in my mixer, and final proof usually takes 3 hours. It seems like the dough is never going to come together, and then it suddenly just starts to develop and hold structure. I’m a crust fanatic, so I also use a bread stone and food grade lava rocks in a separate pan on which I pour the water to generate steam. I also remove the parchment paper from underneath about halfway through baking, so the bottom comes in direct contact with the stone. This recipe makes me very happy!
Extra notes: although I do weigh the ingredients on a scale and follow the 100% hydration, I also live in a dry state in the USA, and I think the 20% whole grain flour I use helps with absorption of water. Since I can’t measure the low amount of yeast for the biga, I just use a generous pinch. Also, seriously don’t rush the bassinage step. It takes at least 20 minutes to incorporate the last 60 g of water. This bread takes attention all day, so plan accordingly.
Great notes, Sue! Thank you.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Happy Baking!
Hi Natasha. Thank you so much for your recipes, they are amazing! I baked this bread several times, it’s a wonderful bread! Can I double the bigar if I need to double my dough? Thank you again .
Could this be baked in a pizza oven?