July 3, 2020 - 3:43pm
Flat and round baguettes
I have a baguette recipe I've been using in my shop for over a year its a 65% hydration recipe with a poolish the day before which goes in the fridge. My question I can have a baguette that comes out flatter and one that comes out as a nice round shape as you can see in the photo. The one on the left is flatter and the one on the right is rounder. What could cause this both baguettes come from the same batch of dough. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks.
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Looks like the one on the right had a taut skin and the oven spring is ballooning it up while the one on the left is relaxed and just spreading. They both look great to me.
I think your rights its just me not being consistent with my final shaping.
It looks to me like the one on the right is much thinner in places. It also looks like you could use some more final proofing time and having a bit of a hard time working against the dough. How long is your final proof ?
Usually 30 min
assuming you're not working with a heavily yeasted dough in a warm kitchen I think you might try 40 maybe even 45 mins. With polish style baguettes the window of opportunity is fine. You can overproof before you know that's why I'm suggesting upping the time just a tad. Who knows it could be an hour that works for you but I now even more convince since you said thirty minutes (I almost wrote down that I would guess 30 mins looking at those loaves)
I cut down my yeast I am now using 40 grams for 50 baguettes. I lowered my water amount today given the high humidity ive been dealing with and i tried building up some more tension on the baguettes. I also let it proof longer and got nice result today. Its definitely a challenge doing bread in hot humid climate. I started adding crushed ice to my dough and that had helped slow down the rise, it gives some more time on shaping the baguettes and being more consistent. Thanks for the advice
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Looks amazing - was just thinking maybe you ought to try a cold ferment overnight. Divide the pre-shapes in the am let them rest for 20 mins then shape. So much easier to shape than poolish based loaves and too boot the flavor of a long cold ferment is better (in my humble opinion)
I ferment my poolish overnight in the fridge then mix with my bulk dough, proof for 45 minutes ,stretch and fold then proof for 45, divide and rest, shape proof and bake. And yes i agree the fridge ferment builds a nice sour taste.