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San Joaquin Sourdough Baguettes

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

San Joaquin Sourdough Baguettes

San Joaquin Sourdough Baguettes

April 1, 2013

My San Joaquin Sourdough originated in Anis Bouabsa's baguettes which had won the prize for the best baguette in Paris in 2008. Bouabsa's baguettes departed from convention in utilizing a 21 hour retardation after bulk fermentation and before dividing and shaping. Jane Stewart (Janedo on TFL) and I initially modified Bouabsa's formula by adding a bit of rye flour and some sourdough starter for flavor. I then omitted the commercial yeast altogether and began using the modified formula to shape as bâtards. Over time, I have tweaked the formula and method in various ways, but have settled on the current one as providing the best product.

Today's bake takes the San Joaquin Sourdough back to its roots, so to speak. I used my current formula and method to make San Joaquin Sourdough baguettes. I am very happy with the results.

 

Total ingredients

Wt (g)

Bakers %

AP Flour

479

89

WW Flour

33

6

Medium rye Flour

29

5

Water

392

72

Salt

10

1.8

Liquid starter

17

3

Total

960

176.8

9.2% of the flour is pre-fermented

Liquid Levain ingredients

Wt (g)

Bakers %

AP Flour

29

70

WW Flour

8

20

Medium rye Flour

4

10

Water

42

100

Liquid starter

17

40

Total

100

240

 

Final dough ingredients

Wt (g)

AP Flour

450

WW Flour

25

Medium rye Flour

25

Water

350

Salt

10

Liquid levain

100

Total

960

 

Method

  1. Mix the levain by dissolving the liquid starter in the water, then add the flours and mix well. Ferment at room temperature, covered tightly, until the surface is bubbly and wrinkled. (8-12 hours)

  2. Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flours and mix to a shaggy mass. Cover and autolyse for 30 minutes.

  3. Add the salt and mix to incorporate.

  4. Transfer to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly.

  5. Bulk ferment for 3-4 hours with stretch and folds in the bowl every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours, then a stretch and fold on the board after 2.5 hours. The dough should have expanded by about 50% and be full of small bubbles.

  6. Refrigerate the dough for 18-24 hours.

  7. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and transfer it to a lightly floured board.

  8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and pre-shape as logs or round.

  9. Cover the pieces and allow them to rest for 60 minutes.

  10. Shape as baguettes and proof for 45 minutes, covered.

  11. Pre-heat the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.

  12. Transfer the baguettes to your peel. Turn down the oven to 480ºF. Score the loaves and load them onto your baking stone.

  13. Bake with steam for 10 minutes, then remove your steaming apparatus and continue to bake for another 10-12 minutes. (Note: After 10 minutes, I switched my oven to convection bake and turned the temperature down to 455ºF.)

  14. Remove the loaves to a cooling rack, and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

 

 

When tasted about 2 hours after baking, the crust was crunchy and the crumb was soft. The flavor was complex, with a caramelized nuttiness from the crust and a sweet, wheaty flavor from the crumb. There was some mild acidity but no discernible acetic acid tanginess. These are among the best-flavored sourdough baguettes I have ever tasted. Very yummy fresh baked and with great sandwich, crostini, toast and French toast potential.

David

Submitted to YeastSpotting

Comments

ntosaj's picture
ntosaj

Dear David,

I made this as one of my first serious forays into sourdough using my homemade couche, it turned out great, though I'll definitely need to practice shaping baguettes.

Definitely one of the betterbaguettes I've had, and as a bread historian as well as a mediocre baker, that says a lot about the quality of the recipe.

 Thanks for the recipe!

Nick

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I'm glad you enjoyed these baguettes. As you may already know, the same procedure with various modifications in ingredients and/or shaping can be used to make a variety of equally delicious breads.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

David

Michieleldering's picture
Michieleldering

lovely recepe. gives a very nice dough! I used 10% less water to compensate for the Dutch flower. However I made the classic beginners mistake to folow the recepe instead of watching the dough. Final proofing shouls have been shorter to get a better ovenspring. But I'm going to try again. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I would love to hear about your experience making SJSD with your local flours, and to see photos!

David

Huwster's picture
Huwster

I hate to ask something that is probably completely obvious to every on this forum, but I signed up yesterday and am still a bit of a Newbie. What is 'WW' Flour? 

I am very much looking forward to having a go at this recipe, but just want to be sure I know which flours I am to use! AP I assume is the US All Purpose flour and the equivalent to our White Stoneground Strong or Bread flour here in the UK?

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

JTB's picture
JTB

These look top notch. Think I'll even try in my oval roaster and see what happens.

smallblueplanet's picture
smallblueplanet

Hi David, I made a UK version of SJSD baguettes yesterday - my first ever baguettes! As we don't have AP flour nor did I have French flour, I used a mixture 1/3rd to 2/3rds of plain white flour to strong white bread flour. The resulting flavour is tasty but I'm not sure if it was the correct ratio. So the slashing is a bit off, they were a bit 'heavy' and chewy, but still very yummy! However one thing I noticed was that they were split along the baguette on the underneath. Could I ask you for help and/or comments as to what you think caused that and any tips you can give to my baguette making, thanks.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Sorry for the delayed reply. I just saw your message.

First, your baguettes look pretty nice. Of course, I am not familiar with your flours. From the loaves' appearance, I'm guessing that your flour mix results in a higher protein content than my flour which is about 11.5% protein.

Loaves splitting on the bottom usually is along a seam that was not well sealed when the loaf was shaped. However, that doesn't appear to have been of great consequence.

David

smallblueplanet's picture
smallblueplanet

Thanks for the reply David, always nice to hear back from an expert. Will try different flour mixes and practice my shaping techniques! :)

Andrew Hoi's picture
Andrew Hoi

Hi David, after when u took out the dough from the fridge did you let it come to room temperature before you divide the dough ? And at what temperature were the dough bench rested and during the final proofing ? Thank you.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Sorry for the delayed reply.

With this bread, the dough is divided and pre-shaped right out of the fridge.

My kitchen temperature varies seasonally but is between 68 and 78 dF, generally.

David

ianzary's picture
ianzary

After many days of researching the perfect baguette, reading countless books, and after countless experiments your post has simplified and summarized years of part time research. An indispensable reference, well done. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I'm glad my post was helpful to you! Thanks for letting me know.

Happy baking!

David

RenéFromDenmark's picture
RenéFromDenmark

Dear David, thank you for the very nice looking recipe, which I am looking very much forward to trying with some old nordic wheat and rye sort flours. I have a quick question about the oven you are using. Here in the Scandinavian counties, our ovens often have two functions: regular with a top and a bottom heater, and 'hot air' where a fan in the back of the oven blows the air around in the oven, among other things making it easier to bake or cook in one than level simultaneously. The hot air function is used in some recipes, but requires the oven to be set 10-20°C lower than when using the conventional oven function, and is especially good if you are cooking food that needs to dehydrate a bit to get done. 

Which kind of oven are you using, and would you recommend me to use regular or hot air oven for these baguettes? 

Best regards from René from Denmark 

RenéFromDenmark's picture
RenéFromDenmark

Just to correct myself, I meant to write "bake or cook in more than one level simultaneously", an not the nonsense I have written above. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

My convection bake = your fan bake. 

David

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

David,

How do you calculate 9.2% of the flour is pre-fermented in your recipe above? I can't make that percentage work from your recipe. I'm thinking TFW = 541g and flour in preferment = 41g, with no accounting for flour contained within the Liquid Starter.  I'm trying to learn about percentage of flour pre-fermented. I'm thinking that if the TFW to 1000g and the percentage of flour pre-ferment is 10% then I would use 100g of flour in my preferment. --- Also, should I take into account the flour contained in the Liquid Starter? Where am I missing it?

Lastly does "Liquid Starter" mean the hydration is 100% or what?

Beautiful loaves...

--Dan

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Dan.

 

Total flour = 540 g (That does include the flour in the starter that fed the levain). Total pre-fermented flour = 50 g. (Rounded to the nearest gram). 

"Total" means all of the flour going into the dough. Some is from the mother starter that feeds the levain. Some is the flour mixed along with water and starter to make the levain. Some is the flour added in making the final dough.

All the flour in the levain is pre-fermented.

The term "liquid starter" is not precise. It basically refers to any batter-like starter/levain. In this bread, the levain is 100% hydration. Some of Hamelman's liquid levains are 125% hydration. 

Hope that answers your questions.

David

Yenn's picture
Yenn

THANK YOU David for this formula!  I know this post is a few years old but it brought me here to The Fresh Loaf and I'm grateful.

My first few attempts at natural yeast/levain/sourdough baguettes were big fails and I thought I just didn't have the knack for it.  I followed your instructions and wow, I am already mixing up batch #2 before these baguettes are even completely cooled!

 

FrancesAnn's picture
FrancesAnn

Hello,  my question is I have been making the baguettes but was wondering if I can just make one loaf instead and also if I can make the baguettes and incorporate Olive Tapenade in and if so when do I incorporate ???

 

Frances Ann

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

You can make as much or as little dough as you want. Just keep the proportions the same.

I have made bread with whole pitted olives but never with tapenade. If you try it, let us know how it works. It sounds interesting.

David

MontBaybaker's picture
MontBaybaker

David, thanks for this easy recipe that turned out very tasty baguettes and epi today.  I have a new WY starter and this was its first no-yeast test.  I increased the recipe to 190% to have slightly larger loaves and extras for the neighbor's dinner.  It was my 2nd attempt ever at baguettes (the first was poolish), and first time with epi.  Dough looked great in the Cambro at each stage.  I was a little worried during final proof but put a baguette on the stone, added water to the pan of lava rock, and got lovely oven spring!  Baked the rest with nice results.  My shaping and scoring need more work, but chewy texture, holes of various size, and great flavor.        

conteminimo's picture
conteminimo

David, thanks for sharing this recipe with us.

I tried it yesterday and had a very interesting result. The taste was more complex, adding rye and WW flour, even in those little quantities. Honestly, I didn't expect that. Thumbs up!

I've also, for the first time, got rid of the poolish and I think I won't use it again for a while.

The recipe has been adapted, in order to produce 10 baguettes, 5 for each bake (265-280 gr. each) - 72% hydratation.

Tried also for the first time Milanaise Organic AP Flour (I'm in Montreal) and very happy with the result. Less proteins than the standard flour I used to find. I think it was one of the key for having the right extensibility while shaping.

Here they are ;)

Vishnut's picture
Vishnut

Wow, David,

I just pulled these baguettes out of the oven and they are FANTASTIC! thank you for your wonderful resources! The crumb is wide open, it's creamy, crunchy, a little tangy, and wheaty and I've already eaten an entire baguette by myself! This recipe's a keeper!

Happy Baking!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I am delighted by reports like yours. I really do appreciate you letting me know that this formula worked so well for you.

Note that the same dough makes wonderful bâtards of about 500 g. I have also used it for sandwich rolls - as demi-baguettes.

Ah, well. Your report makes me want to jump up, activate my starter and bake a batch of SJSD baguettes for myself!

David

Stonebake's picture
Stonebake (not verified)

Hi

Can anyone help me please?

Reading the 'Total Ingredients' in the recipe:

It appears that the flour in the starter is not included in the total flour used to get the 100%.

How can I see the real final hydration is in a recipe presented like this?

 

I'm sure I'm missing something here.

 

Please help if you can.

 

Thanks.

 

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The starter is 100% hydration. That means it is equal parts water and flour. So, since 17g of seed starter was used, 17/2 = 8.5g flour and 17/2 = 8.5g water can be added to the total flour and water respectively. If you wish to recalculate the "real final hydration," have at it. Hint: It's 72.88% which is 0.43% higher than the previously calculated hydration.

David

Stonebake's picture
Stonebake (not verified)

Hi David

Thanks for comming back.

No, that's great.

I thought I was missing something there.

These loaves are a little above my skill set right now.

I realy enjoy your posts BTW.

Thanks for all of the effort and sharing.

Kevin

 

 

 

SourdoughSA's picture
SourdoughSA

David......this looks perfect !!!!

 

Thanx for sharing ....

walpoletim's picture
walpoletim

Thanks for a great recipe - Works wonders.

Here is my first try at making baguettes :)

I hope you approve...  Next time I want to try with spelt rather than rye.

Thanks once again.  Tim

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Your baguettes look deliciously crusty. Most impressive, especially for a first baguette bake.

Happy baking,

David

PanaderoJefe's picture
PanaderoJefe

For my first attempt in baking these baguettes, I am very pleased with the flavor, crunch and crumb. My baking stone was not as big as I wanted so my baguettes were smaller than I wanted, I need to get a bigger baking stone and instead of cutting this recipe in to four pieces I'll cut it into three or two.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I share your problem with a too small baking stone, but smaller, thinner loaves have some virtues. 

Happy baking!

David

FrancisK7's picture
FrancisK7

I had several failures making baguettes in the past. This is my second attempt at making sourdough baguette, and to my taste, it has turned out perfectly.

Baked on my baking steel. The crust is incredibly thin and light yet super crispy. Crumb is soft and light. 

 

I will be making these on a weekly basis now! Thank you so much! 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad the formula is working so well for you.

Happy baking!

David

kiwiv's picture
kiwiv

Hi David. I love this recipe and have made it in the past but I’m guessing we’re one of the few households in Auckland, New Zealand, enjoying sourdough baguettes regularly given our Covid 19 lockdown. No sooner do we eat them then I am “requested” to make another batch. Can’t ask for a bigger compliment than that. 

kiwiv's picture
kiwiv

Hi David. I love this recipe and have made it in the past but I’m guessing we’re one of the few households in Auckland, New Zealand, enjoying sourdough baguettes regularly given our Covid 19 lockdown. No sooner do we eat them then I am “requested” to make another batch. Can’t ask for a bigger compliment than that. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, kiwiv!

We all need compliments and comfort foods to maintain sanity these days! I am honored to be able to provide a vehicle for your family.

Stay safe and healthy!

David

Chinkin's picture
Chinkin

Hi David, tried your recipe and although it did not look like your pictures..the end results were quite good.

not sure what the reasons were, except that I missed the preshaping post 24 hr retardation. I did use more whole wheat 250gms since u was out if AP flour and have a rye starter. Just did not get the exterior shine and drowning...mine stayed lighter in color...

in any case great tasting baguettes and thanks for the recipe!

ck

neild's picture
neild

Novice baker here. I'd love to try this recipe and wonder if I might get some help. Regarding the liquid starter, is that just the sourdough starter that I have, which I should ferment with the other flours? In step 2, one is simply mixing the levain with the ingredients from the final dough ingredients, correct? Also, autolysing is a rest period (is there anything more to it)?

Thank you!

Neil

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

A liquid starter, in this case, is a starter made with equal weights of flour and water, that is, at 100% hydration. I have no idea what the "sourdough starter that (you) have" is. 

When I mix this dough for the autolyse, I dissolve the levain in the final dough water, then mix in the flours. An autolyse is a mix of ingredients without the salt, in this case, to give the flour a chance to absorb the water and start gluten formation. Salt competes with flour for the water and also prematurely tightens the gluten strands. 

FYI, when you make a sourdough bread with a firm (not liquid) levain, you hold out the levain as well as the salt until after the autolyse.

David

Mickey Zalusky's picture
Mickey Zalusky

Hello David.  I'm new to baguette making but would like to try your recipe for SJSD Baguettes.  In your chart for the "Liquid Levain ingredients", weights for the three flours ( total 41 grams), water (42 grams)  and "Liquid starter" (17 grams).    What are the ingredients are used to create the 17 grams of "Liquid starter"?  Is it the equivalent of a poolish?

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The ingredients of the liquid starter are exactly the same as those of the liquid levain. However, if you have a liquid levain made with a different flour mix, it's fine to use it.

A poolish is a pre-ferment that has commercial yeast, not sourdough, and is generally but not always at 100% hydration.

David

Mickey Zalusky's picture
Mickey Zalusky

I don’t have any starters or levain made since my baguettes, so far, just use flour, instant yeast, salt and water and sometimes diastatic malt powder.   Is there somewhere in TFL where I can learn how to make a simple liquid starter levain?  Is it just equal amounts of flour and water covered and set aside for x-number of hours at RT or refrigerated for x-number of hours?  For instance, for the 17 grams of liquid starter, would it be 8.5 grams of flour and 8.5 grams of water?  Thanks for your guidance.  I’m not quite ready to commit to and manage a true sour dough starter. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Use the TFL search function. Search the internet. Buy a good book. (Look at the TFL book reviews). Or, if you don't want to maintain a starter, just stick to baking with commercial yeast.

David

Benito's picture
Benito

Have a look at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2 this worked for me a year ago and is a pretty reliable method for creating your own sourdough starter.

Benny

theveganasana's picture
theveganasana

Thank you for sharing this. I think I messed it up in just about every way that I could,. I think I under proofed, then the fire alarm started going off when the oven was preheating and I got distracted and forgot to slash the loaves. Then my worry about the fire alarm continuing to go off every 5 minutes caused me to take them out too early.

It's my worst sourdough try so far. HA!  But I'll try again! :)

Andrew R's picture
Andrew R

Hi David, 

I have my first batch of this in bulk fermentation right now and happened to find another article with the recipe that shows 370g of water in the dough rather than 350g. 

Which works better?

https://www.everopensauce.com/san-joaquin-sourdough-bread/

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

At various times, I have mixed the SJSD dough with anywhere between 350 to 370 g of water (for 550g total flour). None were bad. These days I most often use 360g, but it's your choice.  Lower hydration is easier to handle, if you don't get along with stickier doughs.

David

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