suspicions regarding clingfilm and baguettes
Hello everyone,
I'm baking some decent baguettes but with one problem. The slashing never yields a great oven spring and ears.
I'm suspicious that my practice of covering the baguettes with oiled clingfilm to stop them drying out is partly the cause.
The baguettes always grow in volume during the prove. However, the surface of the dough is tacky and when I make a slash the dough just gets caught up because it's gluey and the surface tension just doesn't seem to be there. The slash also seems to close immediately thereby creating nothing but a pattern. No rise. No ears.
I have learned from this forum that I'm slashing far too horizontally instead of straight down and I rectified that in my last batch (not pictured, I forgot to) but it still yielded similar results as the picture provided, making me question my proving process.
I'm making 70% hydration dough and it behaves very well in the stretch phase and the shape phase.
What other methods of stopping the baguettes drying out during proving can people offer that will make slashing less rubbish? I've tried a big bin bag but again, the dough comes out a bit 'sweaty'. Should I leave it out of the bag for a while to dry a little? Should I dust with flour earlier for the same reason? Should I slash earlier too, or always slash just before putting in the oven?
Any help gratefully received,
Good morning Benjamin.
I to noticed that my plasticrap (or plastic bag) covered baguettes were very hard to sash. I switched to proofing the loaves only in canvas couches. It is said that the couch material is perfect to retain hydration while drying just enough to get a good slash. This definately helped me, still more practice is needed. That being said, looking at your sample, it seems your oven spring would also be helped by more vertical cuts (along the long axes of the loaf) instead of the "sausage" cuts your making (crossing the loaf.) Baguettes are tricky to slash. Watch a few dedicated baguette slashing videos. There are other concerns too, such as overlapping the cuts. Good luck and I am sure you will get better with practice.
Yes I have since learned about more vertical slashing.
I do also have a couche but never use it because I've got used to these metal and rubber baguette holders which keep the shape. But like you say, I've heard the material in the couche helps. do you still cover your baguettes in the couche or do you just leave them?
Can I also ask, how do you take them from the couche to the oven? Do you have some sort of peel? If so, how do you roll it onto the peel so it's slash side up? Do you slash the baguettes after you take them out of the couche? And do you dust with flour after shaping or just before baking? I'm wondering whether dusting after shaping might yield better results for slashing.
I also have baguette pans. I place the couche right in the pan! Then I use my make shift board to flip them into another baguette pan for the slash & bake! These were ready for the oven. Not my best slash job. Watch for my next post, I have a small baguette batch in bulk ferment. I will be testing out a ground breaking, radical new steaming method. If this works, it very well could be a game changer! (For me at least) Smile. Yes, I fold the couche over the loaves. That's it not other covering.
you call it your 'make shit board' but they look great to me ;-)
So you don't cover the baguettes while they prove on the couche?
Did you spray the baguette before they went in the oven? I ask because of the droplets on the baguette shaper.
However only with the couche. There is enough of the couche to fold right over the top of the pan. I slash and bake in the second baguette pan. Yes I spray them down good before they go in. This is not the same bake, but the same method. One of my best slashing jobs!
They look great. I shall dust off the old couche and get cracking. Thanks so much for your thoughts and advice.
People who know me low that I always bring this up. Forget about scoring techniques in this situation. It's you oven and its not transfering enough energy to the loaves. I just write about it - 5 minute rule. You get this done and any score will burst !
Not the most experienced of bakers here, but I'm of the opinion that 2/3 of scoring issues are solved in a good oven, where even very good scoring can be wrecked in a bad oven. When I write oven please read "the combination of oven and steam".
I have a few friends who are professional bakers / pastry chefs who are working for well known high-end hotel brands (those that still make real butter croissants in-house for their clientèle), and even they have occasional issues with baking bread in a domestic oven. As one of then told me when I started baking, "getting nice bread in a domestic oven is très difficile". ?
On a different note your scoring should be more vertical, that can't be solved in a good oven though ?.
I'm going to experiment in my portable pizza oven today. It gets phenomenally hot. Would you say there's a max temp?
I would keep moving the needle to the same track on a record, over and over, at decibel levels that have now in my old age wreaked my hearing! Could you please elaborate on this 5 minute rule? Enquiring minds want to glean knowledge.
What I'm trying to say is that the last step is to get the loaves to expand very rapidly. By rapidly I mean within 5 minutes of the loaves being in the oven they should have reached their maximum size and, you should see bursts on the scores. That quickly. If that's not happening (again provided you've proofed and well glutenized loaf before hand) then no matter how you score, side ways long ways shallow deep, blind folded etc, you will never get a good final product.
Ok, that's good to know, but... how do you get that super fast oven spring? What factors lead up to that?
For the most part you need tons of heat and preferably a baking stone. To make this work for me I will fire my oven to 500 degrees and make sure the door is open for a very short period of time - just enough to load - less than 10 seconds. At the same time I'll splash half a cup of very hot water onto some lava rocks for steam. Never use ice or cold water or excessive cold water to produce steam - it's a wives tale that ice works better. Opening the door wont take long for a home oven to cool down to 420 which is no way near hot enough to get the oven kick. Additionally if you loaf more than 700 or 800 grams of wet dough in an oven then you have too much mass sucking up all the heat. So good rule of thumb is bake less dough.
When you watch pros demonstrate this they use massively powerful industrial ovens and so it's not really even a factor !
Whoa ! 597F - that is scorching but I think that's giving you the surface temp. What's the air temp ?
I was trying an experiment. ( See my latest block entry) To make a long story short I figured that out immediately. Plus of course I forgot stuff ,kept open and close the door. That is death for my oven. It holds temp pretty well closed. Once you open the door even to just add the load, it has trouble recovering! I am going cover the loves to steam. Thanks for your advice. Let me know what you think of my failed experiment!
That first 5 Minutes is crucial, loading the loaves, while adding that extra bust of steam, quickly is something I am working on improving. Ken, may I ask a bit off on a tangent. How does one achieve that beautiful dark brown color without burning the loafs? I am asking in the context of baguettes, so cast iron pot is not an option. I have an old, home, leaky, gas oven.
So the cust generally will not caramelize like that without decent steam atmosphere. How to do that with a gas oven ? I would plug the vent with towel. If I didnt plug the vent I wont get that crust. The drawback is that you're slowly killing your oven which i successfully did and hence my latest blog entry 'new oven what to do'. If you dont want to kill your oven (btw it took over a year before mine caught on fire) you need to turn it off as you plug it and use residual heat with bricks as heat sinks. This is why I think I'm gonna go all in and acquire a real bread baking oven ;)
I wish I knew who to credit it too...but have you tried popping your shaped, proofed loaves into the freezer prior to scoring for about 15 minutes? I started doing this and it has made my scores so much nicer, overall.
Thw only problem is I would never have room in my freezer for a tray of bread! too many steaks!
I’ve read about this but more for those loaves that had become a bit over proofed. I’ve been tempted to try it but never have.
Benny
What a novel idea! Although like below, I'm not sure I have the room.
For everyone, you only put the loaves in the freezer for 15 minutes! Take the steaks out. Put them back in after. And besides which, one must set priorities. ?
I play with a lot of high hydration dough. It makes a huge difference.
I bet you are very good with your hands from playing with that dough!. I digress, priorities, hmm..
Man cannot live on bread alone. He needs steak and potatoes too! #NYCUTSTEAK