58% hydration baguettes

Powerless Baguettes: Not pretty but quite tasty.

April 10, 2013

A couple days ago, my wife pointedly remarked that there were only two baguettes left in the freezer. This was a fair warning, so I built up a liquid levain and made a batch of SJ SD dough. This afternoon, I divided, pre-shaped, proofed, slashed and loaded 4 baguettes in the oven. The timing was perfect to have them out of the oven in time to get to the farmer's market when it opened and then to enjoy fresh-baked baguette with dinner.

Eight minutes into a planned 20-minute bake, our power went out. The oven is electric. What to do? Well, I removed the steaming skillet as usual at 10 minutes. At 20 minutes, the loaves were browned somewhat, but still pretty pale. I gave them another 7 minutes in the cooling oven, at which point they were still rather pale but had a nice hollow thump and were over 205ºF internally. So, I took them out and let them cool.

The oven spring seemed pretty normal. The bloom was a bit crazy, but I don't know whether that was my scoring or an effect of the cooling oven after the first 8 minutes. The crust was pale and kind of soft, but I can't say the crumb structure suffered.

The crust did have some crispness but was more chewy. The crumb was fully baked. It was chewier than usual. The flavor was excellent – about the same as the last SJ SD Baguette bake, currently featured on the home page. I ate half a loaf with dinner.

David

Hey Pat,

I'm dedicating my latest batch of baguettes that I made last night to you...  These are very simple 58% hydration baguettes made with Gold Medal Unbleached AP Flour, water, Kosher Salt, active dry yeast.  The crust and crumb turned out pretty well.  The last one I put in was a little overproofed, but it turned out OK.  These are very simple tasting with a very light crumb and a crunchy crust.  I think next time I will put the yeastless Poolish in the refrigerator instead of leaving it out on the counter.  That might give them a sweeter taste...  Enjoy!

Tim

PS: I'm still grinding...

Ingredients:

1366g - AP

792g - Water

28g - Kosher Salt

8g - Active Dry Yeast

Directions:

Yeastless Soaker (Poolish)

683g - AP

683g - Water

8:00am - Mix all, cover, leave on counter for 8-12 hrs.

Final Dough:

683g - AP

109g - Water

28g - Kosher Salt

8g - Active Dry Yeast (2 tsp)

1366g - Yeastless Soaker

Directions:

6:30pm - Mix all ingredients, knead for 5 minutes with wet hands in bowl, cover let rest for 25 minutes.

7:00pm - Knead briefly, place in oiled tub, cover, let rest for 25 minutes.

7:30pm - Turn dough.

8:00pm - Turn dough.

8:30pm - Divide into 6 equal pieces, preshape, cover let rest for 20 minutes.

8:50pm - Final baguette shape, proof ln linen couche for 30-45 minutes.  Place 2 baking stones on 2 levels in oven along with steam tray, preheat to 500F with convection.

9:30pm - Turn baguettes onto peel, slash, place directly on stone (3 per level) add 1 cup of water to steam pan, close oven door, bake for 10 minutes at 450F with convection.  Rotate, turn down oven to 425F with convection and bake for another 12-14 minutes or until internal temp reaches 210F.  Cool for 1 hr before cutting.