The Fresh Loaf

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More Fromartz's Baguettes

ehanner's picture
ehanner

More Fromartz's Baguettes

Intrigued by the beautiful Baguette's that Sam Fromartz has been baking, I continue to plod along, improving my skills at baking this simple(?) bread. The original post on his blog can be found here.

I'm actually trying to see if I can taste and see an improvement in the bread when using some original French T55 flour sent to me by a very kind friend a while back. This is Organic T55 from Biocoop and reported to be very good flour. My new go to AP flour is from Dakota Maid. I like the colors I get and the flavors of the grain. After the side by side with the T55, I'm wondering about the amount of malted barley they add. The crust seems to color much more quickly. I used the same formula and method for both flours to arrive at these results. Both breads were flavorful and exhibited good qualities. Not the same but both very good.

Eric

 

T55 Baguette has a nice lighter golden color. The flavor didn't suffer in comparison to the DM flour which was much darker from the same bake time.

Crust detail on the T55. You can see the more golden color, even through the heavy handed additional flour I dusted over the dough prior to baking.

This is the Dakota Maid crumb. Very translucent and a nice crisp crust.

Comments

weavershouse's picture
weavershouse

Fantastic looking bake Eric! Great post. Thanks for sharing.

weavershouse

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Thanks weavershouse!

Shiao-Ping's picture
Shiao-Ping

Hi Eric, what great looking baguettes!

I have learned that not all French flours are good and not all our local flours are poor, and that through hands-on experience we can make informed decision for our own preferred tastes.

Thanks for sharing your findings.
Shiao-Ping

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Thank you Shiao-Ping. I've sort of half hoping that the T55 would be the magic bullet and be fabulous flour. It IS great flour and for the color it has a very nice flavor. But, if you couldn't see thee bread when tasting, a true blind testing, I don't think I would know the difference. Technique reigns supreme so far. Thanks for your comments.

Eric

arlo's picture
arlo

Eric,

Great write up, great pictures and great baguettes!

At my bakery we use North Dakota Mill Bread Flour for any of our breads consisting of any amount of bread flour. I usually use Sir Galahad at home, but the times when I run out I do use North Dakota Mill, I have been quite happy with it as well.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Hi Eric,

I haven't made baguettes in a very long time - your write-up is sure tempting because they look so good.

That old mantra.....so many breads....so little time!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Yum, she sure look tasty! Nice work Eric, I have just finished dry roasting my sprouted wheat, in effort to make my own diastatic malt. I don't know how it will turn out.

 

wally's picture
wally

You seem to be having a lot of fun with his recipe!

Larry

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Thanks Larry. I have been enjoying it. I'm still struggling to get the crust as nice as Sam does but I'm gaining ground in that department.

Eric

 

ananda's picture
ananda

Hi Eric,

Here is the link for the millers who produced the T65 flour I used in the Lesaffre competition: http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.moulinswaast.fr/&ei=yZmuS7ffDo2I0wSf79SJDg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCYQ7gEwBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmoulins-waast%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26rlz%3D1W1DKUK_en

I'm not sure you can get it direct; their website is still in development, so that much is unclear.   So, why do we get so hung-up on "baguettes"?

'Cos they are such a challenge to produce at best quality??

Who knows; it's not as if it's anywhere near my favourite type of bread either!!! Mary and Nigel are such Francophiles, it was just expected they would produce the perfect baguette...no challenge there then!!??

Mine were far from perfect; but the flavour was fantastic; the semolina, plus the oven treatment and fermentation gave for a fabulous crust.   The crumb was not how I wanted it.   I'm thinking you are saying the same in this post; but you had far greater volume than I was able to achieve.   But I only had 8 hours to make everything, and I think that is really significant.

Thanks for all your support; guess what? I made a Pain Siegle with wholemeal today, 1.6kg Miche.   I've soaked some old bread, and some whole rye berries too.   Horst Bandel here we come.   Meantime there is a veritable dissertation on my latest blog on the competition.

All good wishes

Andy

ehanner's picture
ehanner

The web site is pretty limited at this point. I'll have to check back in a few Months.

To me, baguettes represent the best of the art form. The final product is affected dramatically with the smallest change in procedure. With every passing day I am becoming convinced that the flour is the secondary issue when it comes to producing a good form. Yes, you need a clean proper organic low protein flour. But, your task was exceedingly difficult, not having had the chance to practice with a new flour and learn the character of the material. In the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, the teams practice for Months to learn how to get the best performance out of the flour.

I know I'm not the only one here, to be proud of you for participating in this contest. It takes a lot of confidence to stick your neck and reputation out there with out much prep time. I take my hat off to you for charging ahead and doing your best. It sounds like the judges really liked your Baguettes, which in my mind is the prize to win anyway.

Thank you for sharing your private life with us Andy. Your lovely wife Alison, must be tremendously proud of you, as we are.

Eric