Sesame Seed Crusted Semolina Sourdough Baguettes

This is my third time baking semolina sourdough baguettes and I ran a bit short on the Semola rimacinata flour that I usually use for this. I also hadn’t baked a baguette in some time so I felt a bit rusty, but I think overall the bake went well.

These are likely a bit overproofed I’m guessing based on the so so ears. The kitchen was pretty warm and I didn’t account for how fast they would proof on the counter, that and my starter is now creating levains and dough that ferment more quickly. I will need to take this into account in the future.

Levain Build 1:5:5
Starter 18 g
Water 90 g
Semola 90 g
Use 178 g

Saltolyse
Semola Rimacinata 275 g (I used 220 g)
AP flour 228 g (I used 283 g)
Salt 11.8 g
Diastatic Malt 5.92
Water 308 g

Do overnight levain build and saltolyse.
In morning mix levain with saltolysed dough and IDY using Rubaud to ensure salt is well mixed.
20-30 mins later coil fold
20-30 mins later coil fold
End bulk fermentation after 25% bulk rise then start cold retard until next day.

The dough is divided and pre-shaped as loose cylinders and left to rest covered at room temperature for 30 mins. The dough is then shaped, placed on a wet towel and rolled in sesame seeds. Finally they are placed on a floured couche seam side up and left at room temperature for 40-60 mins to proof depending on the room temperature.
With 10 mins left of bench rest the oven is started 500ºF to preheat. When the 40 mins of bench rest is completed the shaped baguettes are placed in a bag and returned to the refrigerator for 30-40 mins to chill to make scoring easier. Once this time is over the baguettes are scored and immediately placed on the baking steel and boiling water is added to the cast iron skillet. The Sylvia towel with boiling water was placed in the oven 30 mins prior to baking time.
The oven temperature is jacked up to 525ºF to get the burners to activate immediately and then once activated dropped to 480ºF. The baguettes are baked with steam for 13 mins. The steam equipment is removed venting the oven of steam. The oven is left at 480ºF but convection is turned on and the baguettes bake for 10 mins rotating them halfway. The oven temperature is then dropped to 450ºF and the baguettes rotated again if needed and baked for another 3 mins to achieve a rich colour crust.

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