My first week of baking
Since coming home from Paris I have wanted a delicious baguette that is not filled with chemicals and worthless ingredients, so that means I need to learn to bake. During this past week we have been working on them.
I started with this reciepe but couldn't make it work..
http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/french-bread-baguette-recipes.html
The dough didn't work out very well, it was a sticky paste and didn't cook up well.
It looks terrible but didn't taste too bad. But it wasn't what I wanted.
Next off I tried this one..
http://betterwithbutter.com/last-day-of-bread-week-french-baguette/
Nothing at all happened, don't know what I did wrong but it didn't rise, didn't crisp, tasted like an english muffin after I tried to toast it.
At the end of the week I moved on to this one..
http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2008/05/02/baguettes-do-try-this-at-home/
Here's the result..
It rose and crisped and looks much better but it was a big heavy inside and not as fluffy as I had hoped.
Changes I have made over the week is that I went from an all purpose flour to a bread flour and also changed yeast brands. For these last ones I put a dish of water under the baking tray which is supposed to help it look the way it is supposed to. The taste was okay but I feel like it needs a little change, not sure what yet though.
Changes I want to make are roll it out longer and if possible get some sort of baking stone.
So here I am, on a baking website, trying to get my loafs up to snuff. Let's see how far I can take this.
No one wants to say hello.
I feel lonely here.
:(
Hello there
You have certainly reached the right place to learn about bread baking. However, you have chosen one the most challenging types of bread to start with.
In the top dark brown banner you will find links to "lessons' and a 'handbook' in which you will find some basic information about bread baking. It might be an idea to make a few simple loaves of bread to get a better understanding of the various steps in the bread making process.
At the top left there is a search box, it is very useful too. Try typing in "beginner baguette" - you'll find plenty to read!
And as a sneak peek for when you are ready to move on to baguettes, take a look at this video by Ciril Hitz in which he demonstrates one of the important steps in creating great baguettes, shaping:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI-WstoakmQ
And start asking questions, there are so many people posting on this site, unless you ask a specific question, you may not get a response.
I hope you have fun working on some of the basic loaves first.
Cheers, Robyn
Hi, L J
Robyn gave exellent advice about reading the TFL Handbook and practicing on a simple recipe over and over again so you can become familiar with the process of baking bread, especially how the dough should feel during the stages of fermentation.
Switching from AP flour to bread flour for a baguette was not a good idea - if you look carefully at the KAF recipe, it specifically calls for AP flour. There's information on flours in the TFL Handbook.
Yes, a baking stone will help your results but scaling your ingredients is even more important. Volume measurements are inaccurate. Get a scale and avoid recipes that offer only volume measurements (cups).
In addition to the video recommended by Robyn, there are excellent videos on scoring, steaming, and shaping (plus more) in the video section above.
Good luck on your bread journey.
Thanks for the responses and continued advice. There is a lot to learn, I am looking forward to it all, especially because the results are quite delicious.
I'll keep up with the baguettes and check out the beginner ideas found from searching. Just a little while ago I knew nothing about flour or folding and here I am just a couple weeks later trying different mixing methods and feeling like a champ when I pull something out of the oven. Can't wait to keep going. See you all around!