Ok, so this weekend, I posted for the first time in over two years, and I mentioned that I'm not very adventurous......and, yet, here I am, posting about making my first ever baguettes. I have long drooled over the many wonderful baguettes posted here, with Alan's leading the pack. So, I got a bit of a wild hare, and decided that I'd give the baguette shape a go. I started with one of my standard formulas - 75% AP, 10% WW, 10% Semolina, 5% Rye @ 70% hydration. After doing a bunch of reading, and watching the King Arthur baguette shaping video, I dove in.....
I made up a standard batch with 1200g flour, autolyzed, S&F'd, and bulked. I pulled off three portions of about 355g each, the remaining portion was destined for my usual batard. I bench rested the dough, then shaped, and ended up with this (I floured the bejeezus out of my couche due to sticking issues the first time I used it!):
Proofed these up for about 90 minutes at room temp, then popped them into a 475f oven with steam:
Hee, hee.....I forgot to determine the length my stone would accomodate!!! What a dope! :) Oh, well, soldiering on.......
Well, I'll be darned, these don't look too bad at all (15 minutes with steam, 15 without):
Crumb shot (I love the color of semolina!!):
I was so excited, I had to have a sandwich in the vein of those I've had in Paris (butter, meat, cheese):
I'm pretty happy with how this first attempt turned out. I will measure my stone for next time, will probably reduce the hydration to make for easier handling until I get used to shaping these, but really, I have no complaints! They will get better with practice!
R
