So here's a return to my usual weekend adventure - each bake I usually make a decision on what I want to accomplish and that all depends on mood appetite etc. So today I figured lets go for some shaping improvements and thus starts the quest. First off that means dropping hydration a tad so in this case of a yeasted baguette which for me has a benchmark of 71% I will go down a point or two (today's is 70%). Because I am very particular about crumb, I know that the best crumb happens at 72%+ where cell walls begin to collapse and become beautifully delicate. To try and bring out as much of that as possible with a lower hydration I decided to push the autolyse a couple of hours as that tends to soften the dough a bit more. The final result looks quite nice however, on the star loaf here there is one mutant score - dang it why couldn't either of those other two loaves taken that slash ? On a side note that doc dough might appreciate, these slashes began to bloom (ie tear as opposed to stretch) at about 1:30 mark which is fastest I have seen so far. Yesterday's sourdough took 3-4 minutes. As I often lament, this loaf is such a challenge but each bake seems to be a step towards a more perfect union of flavor, crumb and shape and thus the adventure continues :)
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