January 15, 2017 - 6:48pm
Flavor, crumb and presentation
Here's a quick pic of today's bake. Recently I have shifted focus to all three (at least of my) important criterion in baking a great loaf that is, good flavor, a nice open crumb structure and somewhat presentable final shape. When o first started trying baguettes it seemed that only one of these was near impossible. So here's today's batch - great taste considering the bulk was only 6 hours. As a side-note, used thawed fresh yeast which I am beginning to notice is really active even more so that fresh yeast that was never frozen. It seems every time my fresh batch gets old and its time to delve into the other half that went directly to the freezer, the action of these thawed yeasties is really wild !
Share
Comments
Those bulging 3-D slashes are a sight to behold. And what a crumb --I'm guessing that it possesses the custard-y quality I keep reading about --I want to grab one and take a bite
Good oven spring and scoring. See. All it took was practice and there you are! A really good all around bake. And as you are probably finding out, repeatable results from bake to bake. One of the most satisfying things about getting a feel for the task.
If you'll notice, we have a handful of other baguette brigades corpsmen that have joined the ranks recently. I feel as though we are one the cusp of a movement! alan
Yes I've noticed a fee new posts showing 'my first baguette' etc and really impressed by the results. This loaf is a neck of challenge considering the ratio of crust to crumb - its just not going to blow up like a Boule or batard and really requires each step to be done just right. Been thinking about getting fancy and trying some sesame versions so prep questions alan !
Now where is the wine, cheese and fruit?
Happy baguette making
Being the next weekend got fresh batch and the whole place smells like a bakery. Will post today's batch soon. Decided to start grading based on flavor, crumb and presentation. In going to call today's batch 8-7-6. Not so happy with final presentation today but great flavor thanks to a extra long bulk :)