Rather happy with this batch - these browned really nicely at least for what's possible with my oven. This is 73% hydration (I fluctuate between 71 and 73 depending on mood). Not a long bulk only 9 hours but surprising color on the crumb - in natural light these are really creamy yellow on the inside - probably the deepest yellow I have seen so far which I think is due to just a tad more soy flour than what I usually use. Generally speaking I will add about 1/8 teaspoon however this time it was about 1/4. For the record - the tiniest amount of soy can have profound effects on the final crumb. I notice that the bubbles tend to be more consistently round and a bit smaller that what you'd see with none. It seems to loosen up the dough. I would have like to put these in about 5-10 minutes earlier but the oven took forever to heat up (it has a mind of its own) I think these would have have raised a little higher.
Browning is the best I have seen and have come to learn that plugging the vent for 10 minutes works better than 5 minutes. From here I vent and rotate and then check again around the 15 minute mark. These baked for pretty much 20 minutes on the dot. And now time to consume - nutella anyone ?
Why is there always a runt (top-most loaf) well at least they done good job as crumb models :)
They look fantastic, what flour are you using?
love the crumb. well done and happy baguette baking :)
Leslie