Shaping baguettes before or after cold proof?
Hey guys, I'm trying to figure out the optimal way to make sourdough baguettes. Conventionally with sourdough breads you proof, shape, retard, score, and bake. But with Baguettes I've seen instructions in the order of proof, retard, come up to room temp, pre-shape, shape, final proof, score, bake. So which path do you guys use? Should I proof and shape and then retard and bake like conventional sourdough bread or is it better for baguettes to shape after the cold proof? Also Is the preshape even necessary for baguettes because I always omit that from regular sourdough breads. And is there also a reason for lots of places instructing you to wait for the dough to reach room temp before preshaping/shaping or can I also skip that step? Thanks!
I don't have definitive answers to all the points, but I can contribute.
- I recently read (I forget where) that retarding shaped loaves leads to thicker, tougher crusts than retarding the bulk ferment container;
- It's not very practical to refrigerate large quantities of bulk-fermenting dough (as for bakeries) because it takes them too long to cool down and stabilize the temperature. At home we have more freedom to choose.
- When I retard during bulk ferment, I like to let the dough warm up for half-an-hour before shaping. You don't need to let the dough warm up to room temperature first. If you try to shape when it's completely cold you can do that successfully but it's harder to get folds to seal and it's harder to get the feel of the dough in terms of its elasticity, etc. So it's harder to know just what the dough needs during shaping.
- Pre-shaping isn't always needed. Apparently it comes from bakery practice where it's helpful in staging the loaves. At home, I have found that whether to make a preform depends on the dough. If it's too extensible and won't hold its shape I stretch, fold, and roll the dough aggressively. If this seems to build up too much elasticity so the dough is too springy I will make a preform and rest it before finishing the loaves. If the dough has good gluten development and an amount of extensibility that I like I'll skip the preform and just shape it directly.
Recently I've been making a taut preform and resting it, then elongating it gently without any more folds into a fat batarde. That's been working well with this particular dough. Of course it's pretty much the opposite what you want for a baguette.
Thanks for the response! Yeah The crust thing is also what I've read. My next batch I'm going to try your method of shaping while it's colder. I think I let it sit at room temp too long which affected my ability to score. I've never preshaped before but almost everything I've read stressed the importance of preshaping baguettes but I agree with you I'm still not sold on it most of the time haha.
https://ibb.co/T1gcjnh This is what my baguettes look like now. I autolyse for 4 hours, only give it one coil fold, then i let it proof for 4 hours, then in the fridge overnight with no preshape or shape, pull it out of the frdge in the morning, let it rest on my countertop for 2ish hours, preshape, and shape. Then my oven is preheated to 450 and I spray with water and use a cast iron skillet with boiling water to maximize steam.
I like this method but my biggest problem is scoring when the dough is at room temp. The dough is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit when I'm scoring it but I can't get clean lines. I'm not using a lame though I'm just holding a fresh razorblade in my hand so maybe thatis' the problem. Also how do I get my baguettes to be more straight?
If you want to see something really different in the way of shaping, look at this short video. It's for loaves for Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, which derived from, are still called, but aren't any longer French baguettes.
It's something else!
I think the purpose of preshaping baguettes is to get a head start on the baguette shape, i.e., without preshape it is more difficult to elongate enough to form longer baguettes. Preshaping allows the dough to be shaped as much as possible within the limits of its current elasticity Then, after it rests and relaxes some, it is easier to continue on to its final length and shape. Of course, with shorter baguettes and/or a less elastic dough this may be unnecessary.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/64322/beginning-bakers-trouble-whigh-hydration-doughs
Might just work for you.
I usually bulk retard and then pull the bulk to shape before returning to retard for several more hours. I almost always bake directly from retard.
You won’t see me on here much, if at all these days, but I posted a ton of different versions of baguettes over the better part of a decade on this site.
Baguette al enchant. Believe it or not this is a well excepted style of baguette in their own right. Great looking crooked sticks!