These are the "famous" french baguettes from the Kayser bakery rue Monge in Paris.

I upped the hydration level, but didn't really calculate. The recipe here is the original and I don't know how it would work with american flour, so if anyone wants to try, keep an eye on the dough.

I also would leave them to rise a bit longer next time, but we were in a rush to go on a picnic (the fated one where I broke my pinky!) I thought the crumb should be a bit more open. They are really good, though. Obviously not sour because the sourdough doesn't have the time to react, but it sure gives great oven spring.

Baguettes "Monge"

500 g farine T65 (or maybe just white bread flour?)

100g liquide starter at it's peak

5g fresh yeast (or about 3/4 tsp fast acting package yeast I think)

10 g salt

270 ml water at 20°C

Mix the fresh yeast with water and leave 20 min to ferment.

Then make a regular dough using your method. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rest 20 min.

Take the dough out and divide it into three pieces. Form three equal size balls and leave them on the counter to rise, covered with a damp cloth, 40 min.

Form three baguettes with pointed ends, place them in a baguette banneton or on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise 1 1/2 hrs.

Preheat oven to 220°C. Sprinkle flour on the baguettes and do the incisions. Do the water thing (coup de buée) and place your baguettes in the oven.

Leave them to back around 20-25 minutes.

Leader's Baguette a l'ancienne

Baguette a l'ancienne crumb

In my ongoing quest for delicious, home-made baguettes, I baked the "Baguettes a l'ancienne" from Daniel Leader's "Local Breads" today.

 Unlike the "Pain a l'ancienne" in BBA, Leader's is a sourdough baguette made with a (very) liquid levain - about 125% hydration. I started refreshing and activating the starter with my usual (these days) firm starter: 50 gms starter, 130 gms water, 100 gms Guisto's Bakers' Choice (T55-style) flour, then fed it twice more with 130 gms water and 100 gms flour at 12 and 8 hours. The starter was incredibly foamy. Leader says it should have a "mildy tangy aroma." Mine smelled strongly of acetic acid!

 The dough is made with 150 gms water, 300 gms flour (I used 50gms whole rye and 250 gms Guisto's Bakers' Choice), 310 gms liquid levain and 10 gms sea salt.

Mix the flour(s) and water and autolyse for 20 minutes. Then add the salt and levain and mix to window paning. This is a very slack dough. It is fermented for 3 hours, with one folding after the first hour. Form the baguettes and place on a parchment paper couche, well floured, and refrigerate 12-24 hours.

Warm at room temperature for 2 hours, then bake at 450F on a stone in a well-heated oven with steam for 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove from the oven still on the parchment, and let cool 5 minutes before removing from the parchment. Eat warm.

 I had some of the bread for lunch with a salad and some Laura Chanel chevre. The crust was crisp. The crumb was chewy-tender with a nice, complex flavor. It had a pronounced sour tang, especially as an aftertaste. 

 David

Hey Loafians,

This is the next video in the long awaited and eagerly anticipated series (OK, maybe not). It's on shaping dough, and I hope you enjoy it.

-Mark

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7MVHDdDtuRc

Good morning all! This is my first post and I'm going to be asking for help.

The lower protein KA French-Style flour resulted in a dough which was more extensible and a bit less "bucky" than standard KA AP flour.

Ok.  My first post.
I found this site after I decided to get into baking yeast breads.  I had a hard time figuring out from books how to properly knead, and I have found this site INVALUABLE.  Thank you so much for the content, here!  

Hey everybody, I'm totally new here and here is what I am thinking about.  I would like a 12 to 14 inch bun that I cut the top off of and hollow out to stick a keilbosa or bratwurst into with some cheese sause and mustard (You don't have to tell me how good and fatty that sounds)  Picture having that with a beer while watching a football game with the boys.

 My problem is once I get the dough ready should I roll it out long or flatten it and fold it.  What does everyone think

Chris

Folks, I must issue one of my periodic shout-outs to our patron FloydM for his marvelously simple, direct and darn-near-fail-safe "My Daily Bread" recipe and lessons. I discovered The Fresh Loaf almost exactly a year ago and have been happily experimenting, testing, trying out and expanding my baking skills since then, fueled predominantly by the inspiration I have found at this site.