February 19, 2013 - 8:10pm
Straight Dough Baguette Practice
I am continuing to practice my baguettes. This latest iteration shows some promise . It seems my oven bakes slow. I turned up the heat to 480F on the second batch and got some better results. I also steamed and steamed for the first 10 minutes of the bake, then switched to convection bake, hoping the increased air flow would help to vent the steam. One other thing I did was use 10% whole wheat flour in the formula from Txfarmer for straight baguette dough. I also let the loaves proof a bit longer. I will continue my quest. I've ordered a good oven thermometer from Amazon to check the oven's temperature. Better steaming apparatus is also in the cards - with a trip to Home Depot for some lava rocks.
Baguette crumb -
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Looking very good Linda,
Best wishes
Andy
I am awaiting delivery of my new couche and baguette tipping transfer board from San Francisco Baking Institute so I can begin my baguette baking. Your loaves look great. I hope I can be as successful.
Lisa
I use a steaming method offered by SylviaH http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20162/oven-steaming-my-new-favorite-way. It works very, very good and is way easier than lava rocks.
Your baguette crumb is beautiful. I am envious.
Thank you for all the kind words.
Yes, I am using Sylvia's method but I can't seem to get that 'burst' of steam more a consistent bubble from the two loaf pans, one on either side of the bottom rack. (I have a gas oven). I augmented the steam with periodic spritzes of water on the sides of the oven in an attempt to create as much steam as I could. Soooo---- I'm going to try another method to see if I can get the burst of steam folks say you need for baguettes.
One thing I did notice in the bake, my baguettes started to get some grigne during the first 5 minutes of the bake, and I was so happy. Then, the baguette just seems to rise and fill the space where the grigne had been. Did I not score deep enough? Were the baguettes underproofed? Steam for too long? All these thoughts are going thru my head. Must try again before I'm off to New Jersey for a week visiting my sister.
Linda
very important to keep the razor at 30 degree angle to the surface of the baguette. 45 to 90 degrees won't give you gringe, What you are describing is typical of a razor that is not cranked over at a steep enough angle to the bread .
Happy baking and enjoy the time with your sister.
Beautiful looking crumb.
regards
Ian
baguettes. The crumb is very good. Pretty soon we will be calling you La Linda - de petite choux choux! I'm not even sure what that means after nearly 45 years from high school French but my French teacher said it was a term of endearment that means something like - my little cabbage sprout or something like that. Only the French could make cabbage sprouts endearing - it's a gift - just like their baguettes :-)
The steaming method we use now is one of Sylvias's steaming loaf pans half full of water with a kitchen towel rolled up in it and one of David Snyder's methods a 12 iron skillet full of lava rocks and 1/4 full of water. I get huge steam now - it just billows out of Old Betsy now. I also just got another stone at Goodwill this week that is square and bigger than other one. So now I can get a top and bottom stone going ala like Ian does. I too just checked the mini oven and Old Betsy for temperature. The mini oven was off 15 degrees on the cold side and Betsy was off 25 degrees on the low side. Now we know where to set the temps to get the bread t do what is supposed to - but it might not :-) So no excuses now :-)
Nice baking Linda!
Thanks for the kind words, DA. I'm still in pursuit of grigne! Going to keep at it, maybe sneak up on it. I was so close this last time, but watched in mock horror as the baguettes rose to erase the budding ears. Perhaps the oven temperature is my problem. Not sure, but will try again soon.
Linda