Scoring baguette

Recently posted by BelleAZ, Master Baker Ciril Hitz shows how to score baguettes

BreadHitz has a number of excellent videos on shaping baguettes.  Check out the TFL Video link at the top of the page and watch the series by Jeffrey Hamelman as well.  They're all quite helpful.

I don't know if these photos give us an accurate look, but comparing the two it looks like you did not get very much oven spring. If they don't expand much in the oven then the scores aren't going to open up much either.

You want to bake your baguettes slightly underproved.  That way you will get more oven spring and your slashes will open more.  I usually final proof my baguettes for an hour to an hour and fifteen; no more.  Your scoring is at too much of an angle to the long axis of the baguette.  It needs to be straighter.  You want to keep your scoring within the middle third of the baguette along the vertical axis.  This is difficult to explain in words.  Check out Susan's Wild Yeast blog for a very clear explanation and detailed pictures of how to do it.  Also watch Ciril Hitz's shaping video. On one of them he actually uses a black marker to draw lines on the baguette to demonstrate exactly where to score.  Your blade needs to be a low angle to get a nice 'gringe'.  I like your crumb.  I bet your baguette tastes good, too. :)

best,

Syd

How hot was the oven when you put the bread in? A very hot oven will contribute to a good oven spring. I usually preheat the oven to the highest temp(mine can go upto 275C) for at least an hour before the bake. Then, lower the temp to 240-250c for 10 minutes, and bake at 225C for the rest.

Did you steam your oven? Steaming will also help tremendously with oven spring.

Together with the good scoring, as Syd suggested and well-proof dough. You should be achieve a good oven spring.

Good luck with the next bake.

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com

Here is a link to properly scoring a baguette that was shared to me by mini oven. I thought I'd pass on this very helpful information.Hope this helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QdzHuhJ-ls

What do you do if when you score the loaf, your cuts close up because the dough is very soft and sticky? Is that a problem with the gluten formation early on, or because of the final shaping? I preshape, let it rest for an hour, then final shape and proof. I'm making baguettes with Bouabsa's formula via David on this forum. That dough is STICKY and very soft, to the point that after the final shaping I can't transfer the loaves to the parchment without the middle falling down and getting streched out.

bencheng,

That's a beatiful crumb you got there. Which recipe did you use if you dont me asking? 

I'll add my 2 cents, which might contradict a few other opinions already posted...

To me, your loaves looked under proofed to begin with. The sign that suggests that to me is pic #2. See where it split near the bottom crust and ran lengthwise? There is some 'bloom' coming out from that split, and it's sometimes referred to as a 'blowout'. That -usually- means that the dough was rapidly expanding even after the crust was setting. That causes the split. Because the dough is still expanding after the crust has set, it has to expand somewhere, so it starts coming out where the shape is weakest (the bloom). That's going to be where it cracked. Ideally, we want the bloom to come out the scores on the top, not around the edges. Over proofed loaves generally do not have enough yeast activity left in them to cause such a blowout.

If it's NOT under proofed, then you might want to back off the oven temp a little bit, and/or add steam as suggested. Steam keeps the crust from setting too quickly. Keeps it moist and pliable for as long as possible to accomodate the expansion going on inside as the core comes up to temp.

Tears like that can also be caused by a weak spot in the shaping, as well as under developed gluten, which no amount of excellent shaping can overcome.

Baguettes are an artform. It's very wet dough, so it's hard to determine gluten structure, and hard to shape. You have us nitpicking here.. because your loaves look excellent otherwise. I'd say you have a sound base with which to start trying some different things. You'd be wise to keep extremely concise notes about every aspect of your procedures, that way you can just change one or two things and note the differences. Pasting back with new pictures and exactly what changed will get you even better advice down the road.

I'd have no problems serving that bread... it looks like it was baked with care, and I'll bet it tasted great! Perfection will come - eventually.

- Keith