The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

New Member Delurking - Samples included and looking to perfect food processor baguettes...

tordoc's picture
tordoc

New Member Delurking - Samples included and looking to perfect food processor baguettes...

 

About me and bread making:  I'm at this for about 2 years.  Started with Cook's Illustrated Almost no Knead (beer yumm...), did a bit of Lahey, and a lot of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day  (Master, Peasant, Rye, Brioche and Challah both of which make amazing babka).  I've done some pretzels, bagels, and lots of pizza to please the kids and have done Pain ancienne a la Reinhart numerous times.  Love BBA and American Pie.  I've used a stand mixer, dough whisk, and bare hands with some  very good results.

 

 

Bagels.

 

 

Brioche, cinnamon Babka,  and cream cheese Babka made with the same dough from AB5

 

 

 

Chocolate Cinnamon Babka made with AB5 Challah dough.

 

I'm a bit of a gear head and have a pro sized gas oven.

 

Currently I am on a baguette kick. My wife bought a food processor for me this Christmas.  I often cook for a crowd and this thin is great.  It's the big WS Cuisinart model and it stays on the counter and I'm trying to use it for everything I possibly can.  I happened across the Van Over recipe in an old Cuisinart manual.  I looked at the recipe and thought the hydration seemed kind of low at 63% but made it anyway.  It was the easiest dough to handle - very tasty, but needed more crackle and more holes.   I added an ounce of water bringing the hydration to about 69%.  I then saw van Over's published recipe online  and noticed that he had made the same change.   I guess I learned from you all…  The bread was good but could be better.  

 

I just finished a batch of baguettes with this formula adjusted to 72% hydration and have a batch of dough in the fridge at 75%.  

 

 

 

I'm attempting to adapt other baguette techniques to the food processor and I'll put the details in another post (I suppose the artisan forum is appropriate) but my goal is to get a food processor dough with higher hydration and minimal active time and minimal kitchen mess.  And of course improve technique along the way.

 

This forum has been a constant resource and a fun read.

 

Thanks.

 

tordoc

 

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

tordoc, check out the Mark Bittman baguettes as shown on breadbasketcase. Marie claims they are easy and taste delicious and they certainly look good. I just got a new 11cup Cuisinart and plan to try them tomorrow, A.

tordoc's picture
tordoc

Thanks Annie,

I will put this recipe on the list.  Bittman has never failed me.  Doesn't seen like the dough should be as wet as described...  I guess the minimal processing  does the trick.  It will be interesting to see the flavor difference between this and the recipe below...  It's almost the opposite.  Minimal working of the dough, no cold ferment, no autolyse. Then again with such minimal processing isn't it all sort of one big autolyse?

Currently I am trying the Baguettes a la Bouabsa as described on Breadcetera by SteveB.  Did the autolyse first.  For the 200 slap and folds I processed for 45 seconds.  I left the dough in the processor and turned the machine on every 20 minutes until the ball reformed and spun for 5 seconds where the original recipe called for more folding.  The dough is now in the fridge and we'll see tomorrow night...

 

tordoc

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

How interesting, tordoc, and I hope you will post your results. I'm thinking that the Bittman dough will be more like Pain a l'Ancienne from The Bread Baker's Apprentice and I won't be attempting much in the way of shaping. I'll aim for the rustic look. I do like your idea of using the machine for 5 second folding. Oh dear, something else new to try, A.

MickiColl's picture
MickiColl

I tried, twice, but "breadbasketcase" doen't exist .. maybe a typo ?

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

Sorry, but that is exactly how I have it bookmarked, A.

dsmithnc's picture
dsmithnc

tordoc,

your bagels look suberb.  What recipe do you follow, or is it your own?

 

Dick

saltandserenity's picture
saltandserenity

 

Got sucked right into this conversation and had to find Bittman's baguettes.  Here is the link.  In a food processor you say?  Hmm.

http://breadbasketcase.blogspot.com/2009/12/mark-bittmans-food-processor-baguettes.html

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

Thank you for clarifying that, saltandserenity, A.

tordoc's picture
tordoc

I'm going to move this over to the Artisan forum, so if you want to see how the baguettes for the week all went, the results will be over there...

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21863/food-processor-baguettes

 

Dick, the bagels were pretty much KAF from this recipe minus the malt.  I used Agave syrup for the sweetener and a touch of baking soda in the water bath.  A touch too much actually - therefore the "pretzly" color. They were very good and the dough was easy to handle.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bagels-recipe

tordoc

dsmithnc's picture
dsmithnc

for that link.  I tried that recipe once and it wasn't successful, for me.  But you've given me reason to try it again!

 

Dick

improbablepantry's picture
improbablepantry

Greetings all,

After hearing about the concept of using my food processor to knead bread, I came upon this discussion.  Checked out Breadbasketcase's baguette experiment, and want to give it a go.  I've never done baguettes before.  (I've been stuck on No-Knead bread for a few years...so easy and terrific!)  Any thoughts on how to get this done without the french bread pan?  If I just put the bread on parchment over a baking sheet would I get anything close?  Over a stone (maybe worth the trip to the store for that)?

Thanks!

MNBäcker's picture
MNBäcker

IMHO, if you are willing to order a stone, get a good one. I'm using a Fibrament in my oven and am happy with its performance. Yes, put your loaves onto parchment and then slide the paper onto the stone when you're ready for baking. There are a few drawbacks to using stone, such as the risk of thermal shock or the extra time it takes to heat it up, but you would be able to bake all of your breads (and pizzas!) on it.

If you are focused on the French breads only, get a perforated pan at your local restaurant supply store. They are much cheaper than a stone (but you won't be able to bake pizza in it...:). The idea is for the perforated surface to allow more direct heat to get onto the crust, for a more crisp crust.

In any case (stone or pan), you'll need some steam in your oven to get the best crust results. I just had to replace the convection heat element in my Maytag oven, and I suspect the steam I had been using might have had something to do with it. I had always poured about a half cup of water into a shallow pan on the bottom of the oven. While it made for a great crust, I also suspect it might have fried the heating element (more specifically the motor that drives the convection fan). I saw some people use ice cubes - I might be willing to try that, but I'm still concerned (even though I got the replacement part at a reasonable cost online, I don't want to replace parts in my oven regularly).

Stephan

tordoc's picture
tordoc

Please check out some of the food processor progress here;

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21863/food-processor-baguettes

I think getting the oven nice and hot and having good steam are very important. The stone helps the spring, but some of the loaves on that page were done on a half sheet pan with a silpat and the parchment paper couche straightened out under the bread, and all worked out fine.  Nice tight shaping seems to be key.  I have never used a mold.

For steam I keep a heavy aluminum griddle on the oven floor. I splash it with water and keep an aluminum foil cup with a pinhole filled with water dripping onto the sizzling hot griddle.  Seems to work ok...

tordoc

improbablepantry's picture
improbablepantry

Thanks for all the advice.  Time ran out yesterday, so I put off these experiments, but will definitely return another day