June 24, 2020 - 1:21pm
Tip - Loading Baguettes sideways in a home oven
A tradition French Baguette is ~22” or longer. Should you decide to load your baguettes sideways this easy to make loading board (1/4” plywood) will work effortlessly. Cut the board the exact dimensions of your baking stone. Once the board is well dusted the baguettes are easily slid off one by one. The end of the board is used to straighten the dough if necessary. By the way, the “push stick” is not needed, but it does come in handy. It is also nice to pull loaves from the hot oven once the bake is complete.
Are you interested in shaping baguettes to a particular length. THIS LINK may help.
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You are so ingenious Dan, you never cease to amaze me.
Dan, love it, though I prefer a DIY superpeel for loading dough into the oven, and a regular wooden peel for retrieval.
I was planning to build a custom sized super peel, but this was way easier and it works without a hitch. Loading couldn’t be easier. I pull my breads with a gloved hand.
I own a standard and a custom made super peel, but neither is wide enough. My stone and loading board is 16x22”.
I need to get a bigger stone (or steel) but what a neat idea. Its complicated but I sure want to make my baguettes longer. I'm side loading but my stone is on the small side.
I actually like the push- it could be designed to flip over and be used as a kind of a rake to pull loaves forward from the back. My racks don't slide out terribly far so it would be helpful.
Muchas gracias for sharing this!
Jen, the push stick would work well for retrieving the breads. Good idea, I amended the original post to add that. Today, I learned that the push stick could come in handy when loading multiple baguettes. I loaded 4 on the board. As I shook the second baguette to the end of the board the dough got crooked. The push stick worked great in that case.
If you want the largest stone to your oven get one custom cut. I think the additional charge is only $10 or so. Here is where I got my stone and had them cut it.
https://bakingstone.com/shop/home_oven/
If you call them with the inside dimensions of your oven they will tell you the maximum size. The stone needs space around the perimeter for air flow.
Danny
Danny,
I've got a smaller one and its pretty great. I wish I would have ordered larger but I wasn't thinking baguettes at the time.
I admired how nice and straight your baguettes were in your last bake. Another goal to achieve.
Jen
My baking deck was US$20. Maybe I got lucky. I went to a countertop fabricator and asked if they could cut a piece of scrap to size. They showed me an array of granite pieces, I picked one, and they called me the following day for pick-up. I sized it so there was enough room on all sides for air flow. Way cheaper than a Fibrament. Once this stone heats up it retains an incredible amount of heat for a very long time.
At 3/4 inch it is too thick to crack unless you have a silverback gorilla roaming around the kitchen looking for mayhem.
If I were in the market for a custom sized stone, I would pursue Alan’s idea of sourcing a scrap piece of marble. I think it is every bit as good as a baking stone, plus custom cut, plus cheaper. And it is beautiful!
Measure the inside width and depth of your oven. Subtract 3 or 4 inches from each dimension and you are good to go. That way there will be 1 1/2” or 2 inches of clearance on each of the 4 sides.
I decided to check out the current price for a custom cut piece of granite like Alan uses.
Here is what I discovered for my area. I called a few places.
$50 if 2 cuts were necessary
$30 if only a single cut
You can look for one dimension that works for your oven, therefore only one cut. Since I own a custom Fibrement, I went home empty handed.
BUT, if you are handy with tools you can purchase a diamond saw blade to fit a circular saw. Blades range ~$20 to $40. I got a piece of un-cut scarp granite from a counter shop and cut 2 stones out of it. So, the cost to me for 2 granite stones was $10 a piece.
BUT, if I didn’t own the Fibrement I’d go with Granite. $50 (Cut Granite) vs. $104. Both would have the perfect dimensions.
Dan, that's incredible but first thought - they don't roll ? I'd imagine that maybe the first pops right off but the others, they don't want to roll over ?
Not at all. The loading board is dusting with slightly coarse rice flour. The push stick pushes them right off the board as the slide onto the stone.
”It’s a beautiful thing...”
Best way to solve a problem !
and switching to Ocam's razor!