Happy freaking new year - check out these scores

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kendalm on 1 Jan 2017 at 14:04
Happy new year all. Just thought of post a pic of the name of the new year and just loving the bloom on these baguettes. I've been on a mission to improve the bloom and think I got 20 out of 20 this time. For those of you who know how challenging it is to get a thin load to burst open I've found that curved scores seem to work well. I've recently been cutting each score with the same curvature of say a basketball instead of straight cuts. Also coming in on a much more shallow angle is making the ears more pronounced. This is never a challenge with a boule or batard which are much more forgiving loaves. So, well here's a pic just for fun ! Happy new year maybe I will post some of the internal organs later to see how the crumb looks as I hate to open them up too soon :)

The picture looks like the roof of a temple of some sort, with that gently curve in the loaves. :)

Lol ok well there is definitely a religious element to all of this. Its a quest. I think I am closing in probably my 400th baguette now and the vast majority have not burst like this. Instead they tend to just stretch at the cuts. So the last couple of months have been quite transcendent :)

Well done Gerry.  The shaping great, but that apparently had never been a problem with your breads.  And now the scoring is leading to really nice blooms from the oven spring.  Congrats.

alan

Thanks alan - isn't insane how much practice this takes. I can see at least one of my recent scores opening up like yours do - that is with a really wide bloom which you seem to get on every cut. Just practice and all the little steps in between. Your advice public and pm has really helped. Will keep going as its never perfect. I'm going back now to focus on crumb since the last couple of months have all been focus on final shape which obviously still has plenty of room for improvement - ie eliminating bubbles on the surface and general consistency but that's what makes it so fun. So today's bake which is just about ready will have a bit longer final proof as I'm trying to get fatter loaves so pushing the boundaries here...will see shortly !
Well that's funny you say that because a year ago I would have been eccastic with the crumb on these but recently I have been focusing on final shape and been neglecting the rise and proving somewhat. Well not neglecting just when you adjust one thing something else nudges and so in was getting really fantastic crumb a few months ago. As in consistent bubbles of say 1/4 inch to 3/4 inches throughout the loaf and now that I've been wrapping tighter loaves I am seeing more areas of denser bread. Look up a post of mine called ' the more the merrier' and that's what I mean - those loaves although not as impressive on the outside were just amazing on the inside. Its also in my opinion somewhat trickier to get this type of structure with bakers yeast vs Lebanon and so that's the challenge - just more consistency I guess :/

Oh, yes. I see now!

In my world, and I am at heart a historian (that's a poetic way of saying that I am someone who is stuck in the past), I think of REAL baguettes as the ones that Raymond Calvel would have baked, the pre-1950's baguettes chronicled by E. David, M.F.K. Fisher, and others... and the crumb of your New Year's bake won my admiration by looking exactly like Calvel's.

The reason I bake is because the first time I went to France (as a teen in antibes) I recall getting fresh loaves delivered to the hotel room each day. I recall thinking what kind of breakfast is this and then discovering at first bite that it was the greatest breakfast ever. Eventually you give up trying to find good bakeries in the USA and succumbing to learning the art just so you don't have to fly half way around the world for a decent bite with a slice of ham and good butter. Sometimes if you want it you just have to make it !

Yes, I agree. I live in Napa, CA and we have some good bakeries, but the price is quite high. I really hate to buy bread; I want to make bread not buy it.

Growing up in the Northeast suburbs of Minneapolis, MN, the list of items that I had NO awareness of (until I grew up and made them myself) is long: Pate Brisee, Brioche, French puff pastry, real French bread

I guess some of my early interest in baking was born out of sheer curiosity --watching cooking shows and realizing that I had no conception what some of the items might taste like

 

Puff pastry is no walk in the park. Congrats on being able to make it. I bake short crust meat pies which require puff pastry on the top layer and I only one's tried to make the puff - it was a disaster and so I resort to buying the frozen strips. Would love to learn how to make puff though. As for short crust I always make it from scratch and sometimes use lard for shortening which makes an incredible crust. The next best option seems to be margarine and then counter intuitively bitter as the last option !

...because it is the ultimate (ne plus ultra --I think that is the fancy way to say it) in pastry doughs, like baguettes are the ultimate in bread --and they both require skills/exacting technique/practice/crazy attn to detail. But Kendalm baguettes are 300% more difficult and have many more factors to keep track of. You have nailed them; I haven't --though I get lucky now and then

if your sport is bicycling, one of the things I got caught up in making 'til I nailed it (about a decade ago) is a round French Puff Pastry almond tart called a Pithiviers --decorated like bicycle wheel spokes and named after the town that the Tour de France passes through  --it's really a thing of beauty; it is Puff Pastry at it's best. All you taste is butter and almonds.

Your recent bake looks so good --wow. They look... French! Like 1930's baguettes. The scores are better than the New Year's bake, in my opinion. You and Alan are masters and I am watching both of you closely --my last bake was REALLY ugly. I destroyed the evidence. (I did not post it. I'm proud)

Do you mind nosy questions? What hydration are you using? I bet it is posted elsewhere but I am not coming across it yet. Also, do you use a mixer for any of the mixing or kneading?

you spelled it out pretty good here:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/49346/more-merrier-or-better-quality

read some of yours and Alfanso's old posts; now I am CONVINCED: I got to get better steam contraption! I want explosions and I don't mean delicateI am going rock collecting as soon as I have time. 100% free. And where are all those old nuts and bolts I used to have??? wow they would be perfect. I suspect they are ancient history. I knew I'd regret it if I let my lady "neaten up" my area in the garage

30 days ago if someone had asked me what a gringe was I would have guessed it was a tween fashion trend or a special kind of firing range; now it has become one of the most desirable things in my life

That's wonderful you have traveled in France, Kendalm --wow-- you have tasted the real thing

I was lucky enough to be in a sport that I excelled at and travelled to Europe many times for competitions. The first time was antibes and can never forget the first bite of a baguette not having any clue I was about to eat something incredible. I ended up stuffing my bag with loaves on the trip home and then froze the now 12 hour old bread to try and prolong the experience. Then one day I though, hey why not learn to bake them instead of fruitlessly searching bakeries in USA which just can't equal the real thing !
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kendalm on 15 Jan 2017 at 19:08

The real thing has a very distinct flavor. Trader Joe's used to carry zip frozen minis several years ago. My wife brought them home claiming 'these are supposed to be good'. I bit in and knew instantly they were baked in France. Then checked the bag which stated exactly that - baked in france and zip frozen for shipment. Its very hard to describe but even the smell is distinct and absolutely intoxicating !