We are baking Maurizio's Sourdough Baguettes. I am in the process of baking these baguettes for the third time. After test baking, I can say that the instructions and also the flavor of this bread is very good.
Since most bakers are separated by many miles and even different countries, this “community bake” may be the best way to share information and learn together along the way. The idea, for those who want to participate, is that we document our progress with pictures and post. It is suggested that each participant start a new comment to document their progress. As more information and images are available for your bake you can edit that post and append it. We’ll share our success, and just as informative, our failures. During the process we can ask questions, compare results, or offer suggestions. Both expert and novice have a place here.
We plan to start our bake today. We will be following Maurizio's well documented instructions. They can be found here. https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sourdough-baguettes/
I hope you choose to join in. The more the merrier. Even if you don’t come aboard now you can still post your bake and results at any time in the future. All threads are constantly monitored for recent activity. Be sure, someone will be available to assist you.
Here is a screen grab of the downloadable spreadsheet.
Dan
It is good to remember, "we learn more from our failures than we do from success".
Post it all. The good, the bad, and (if you dare) the ugly.
I've always opted for a 10 minute bench rest between pre-shaping and shaping. This may, just may, be the first time that I gave it a full 30 minutes. I've got the inkling that part of the improvement in facilitating the shaping is attributable to that extra rest (and relax) time. So I shall continue to do so for the next few batches and see whether that is a valuable tool. Always learning something new!
thanks, alan
Thanks for taking the time to make an outstanding and informative video.
Anyone interested in baking these baguettes would do well to check it out.
QUESTION - Is it possible to bake these baguettes in a home oven and have them come out less chewy and with a thinner crust? Even though the crumb is very open, I find the bread too substantial for my taste. I did try flours with low protein.
Dan
Man, I love those torpedo (tapers at the ends) shaped baguettes. It is the perfect solution for a stylish baguette without the burnt points. I will be spending time practicing that one :-)
The home oven question. I've made a potato bread a few times, and find that the potato (starch?) tends to soften the crumb. Perhaps adding a "little" to the mix. But be aware that the potato likely doesn't contain anything gluten related, so you might have to up the protein percentage of another flour. That's just a SWAG.
Thinner crust? I find that these have a thin crust with a sharp snap to it in the first so many hours after the finish baking and cool down. So I wonder what might be different between what you do and what I do.
Here's a writeup I did on the SFBI pain au levain with a thin crust - just for comparison, and another on the Vermont SD, also with a thin crisp crust. These are both low hydration doughs, 68% and 65% respectively. They should now be right in your own wheelhouse for practicing the whole shebang and perhaps getting the thinner crust you are searching for.
I've never found the sweet spot for truly consistent baguette shaping. They are usually in the "-ish" category of close. kendalm does a great job with consistency.
thanks, alan
at 75% hydration. Documented in my blog entry today.
oh, oh....I came across a number of IG posts that discussed different approaches to baguette scoring...
huh....never really paid attention before as baguettes were not quite on my SD radar yet..
so....here we are practising our scoring and then how about THAT post this morning...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnIbpPPgFZH/?hl=en&taken-by=tartinebaker
It made me really, really laugh.... so I assume we can have that 'one-slash or not' discussion now?
One comment from an amazing baker on IG was ...."well we are in 2018 after all...."
ha, ha.... I would be happy with either way, if I could pull it off....... Happy, happy baking to you all!
is Mark Sinclair, formerly of Montana and now in Madrid, best as I can tell. He also scores his baguettes down the center, and has a handful of videos that are mesmerizing just watching him work. He also has the most unique workshop you''ll likely ever see, having shipped it from the US to Spain.
https://youtu.be/jWasB90oUvo. He scores his baguettes just after the 5 minute mark. He also does dagoofy dabrownman's goofyname "sleeping ferret folds" starting at 1:17.
and what an ingenious idea....I have to convince my husband that I can park it into our parking slot...and start writing a business case...
We also can possible use it for the surfing holiday for our son.too..ha, ha...
Oh what a dream...
All the goodies he manages to bake there....amazing!!!!!! ..Thank you for sharing Alan....
before they had a name:-)
<groan> I think I started something with the 'sleeping ferret folds'. It makes me laugh now every time I see someone use that term!
and I see no reason for the name not to stick to it. Tub Coil Folds are a thing of the past. It's worth making high hydration ciabatta just to see how important they really are!
What is Mark making?
Looks good!
I think there's a whole other video on strudel. Wa hat a labor of love!
I'd be a good customer. Thanks Carole.
I just keep looking through this entire thread drooling over all the gorgeous baguettes. It's just one giant thread of bread porn. I think I'm going to stick with my plan for champlain sourdough for my next bake, since I'm working on finding a recipe I like for sandwich bread for the family, but I'll definitely come back to this recipe in a week or two
Kat,
This struck me as a bit funny. What you'll find is that within short order, assuming that you keep at it, your muscle memory will automatically measure out the desired length of the baguette as you roll them out. Typically with very little variance. It just happens
And then you can park the tape measure in the drawer until you take on croissants! The back of my hand peel has measured markings on it for just such events, as little as I venture into enriched doughs.
as the measure came out when I realized that I made the very first attempt too long for the oven!!!
I bet that is a classic baguette newbie mistake! What a ............!
In the end I've just put the sheet next to the couche and that gave me a guide....
I am a great believer in muscle memory and hopefully after another hmmm.....95 baguettes the muscles might remember... :D Kat
Does anyone still have a copy of this spreadsheet? I noticed the link doesn't work anymore, and would love to scale this easily. Thanks so much!
Send a PM and include your email using this link.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/messages/new/32564?destination=user/32564
It's not letting me access that page. My email is avatar1999 at gmail dot com.
I'll edit out the email address when I get your email. Thanks so much!
Thanks again Dan! Found an online file converter, and with a few corrections, I have the spreadsheet file working perfectly for Windows (Office, etc).
If you or anyone else would like a copy of it, feel free to let me know!
-Rob