Place the biga in a large bowl or kneader bowl.
Melt the yeast in the lukewarm water and add it to the bowl. Mix gently.
Add half of the flour quantity and continue mixing. This dough is sticky and needs to rise. Cover with a tea towel and let it rest for two hours. While rising, it will form air pockets that should not be popped.
When the two hours of resting time are up, add salt, oil and the remainder of the flour and mix again.
You will obtain a humid and elastic dough. Pull and fold a few times on the working table.
Place back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise for another hour.
When the resting hour is up, shape the dough using scrapers or well-flowered hands.
Split the dough into two parts, give each a cylindrical shape and roll them in flour. There is no need to knead again. Ciabatta is a wet bread, and extra flour can change the consistency of the dough.
Pull from the edges until you obtain a slipper form, about 5-6 cm high. If the loaf is too high, pull the edges until obtaining the desired shape rather than pressing down.
If you chose to use the Ciabatta for panini, divide the dough into 10-12 smaller pieces.
Place a greasy baking paper on the tray and preheat the oven to 200°C fan oven/225°C static/437°F/gas mark 6.
Place the bread on the baking tray. Leave about 10 cm between the loaves or 3-4 cm between the panini.
Allow resting for another 45 minutes.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and cool before preparing sandwiches or bruschette.