Pat's (proth5) baguettes have been my “go to” recipe for baguettes for quite a while. When she posted a new formula in November - See Starting to get the Bear - I promised myself to give them a try. I got around to it today.
These baguettes are made with both levain and a poolish and are spiked with some instant yeast. They still have a relatively long fermentation, for yeasted baguettes. Pat's description of her method included baking some of the dough the day they are mixed and retarding some to shape, proof and bake the next day.
Here is my interpretation of her formula a methods, with some modifications, as described below.
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Poolish
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Ingredients
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Wt (oz)
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AP flour
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3.7
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Water
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3.7
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Instant yeast
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“generous pinch”
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Levain
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Ingredients
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Wt (oz)
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AP flour
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1.7
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Water
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1.7
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Ripe sourdough
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0.35
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Final dough
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Ingredients
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Wt (oz)
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AP flour
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31.35
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Water
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19.2
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Instant yeast
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0.05
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Salt
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0.55
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Poolish
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All
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Levain
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All
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Total dough
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Ingredients
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Wt (oz)
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Baker's %
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AP flour
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37.1
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100
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Water
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25
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67.25
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Instant yeast
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0.1
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0.25
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Salt
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0.55
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1.5
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Starter
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0.35
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9
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Total
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63.1
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178
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Mix the poolish and the levain and let them ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
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Mix all the ingredients except the salt to a shaggy mass. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. (I actually autolysed for 90 minutes.)
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Add the salt and hand mix in a large bowl or machine mix for 3-5 minutes at low speed. (I hand mixed the dough.)
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Bulk ferment for 4.5 hours with a stretch and fold at 2 hours. (Or, cold retard for up to some length of time, but surely less than 3 days. Or divide some pieces and retard the rest of the dough. This time, I divided the dough in two after the S&F and retarded half.)
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Divide into 10 oz pieces and pre-shape as logs. Rest the pieces, covered, for 20-30 minutes.
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Shape as baguettes.
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Proof en couche for 1.5 hours (Or until ready. Or retard shaped loaves.)
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Pre-heat oven to 500ºF with baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
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Transfer loaves to peel. Score them and transfer them to the oven.
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Bake with steam for 5 minutes. Then lower temperature to 480ºF (convection, if you have it), and bake for another 12-13 minutes.
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Transfer to a cooling rack and cooling thoroughly before eating.
Because of the size of my baking stone, I divided half the dough into 4 pieces to make mini-baguettes.The dough handled really nicely, I thought. The baguettes were proofed and baked as above, according to Pat's directions. After 17 minutes, they were rather dark, especially the one at the back of the oven. They sang loudly when removed to cool. They came out of the oven just in time to eat with dinner, for a change, rather than just in time for bedtime snack.
Baguette crumb - torn, not cut
We ate one baguette with dinner – Sautéed petrale sole, leeks vinaigrette and warm Swiss chard salad with olive oil and lemon dressing.
The crust was very crunchy. The crumb was quite chewy and nicely aerated. The flavor was good, but I will use a bit more salt next time. I think I will also bake at a somewhat lower temperature for a slightly longer time. 460-480ºF for 20 minutes would be better for me, I think.
Addendum: I baked the second batch of baguettes today. I baked these at 470ºF for 20 minutes.
Baguettes with varied shaping and scoring
Compared to the first batch, the second had less dark crust. It was very crisp. The crumb was basically the same. The flavor was noticeably sweeter, but it still was under-salted to my taste.
These are very nice baguettes. I'll be following Pat's reports of her continuing bear hunt.
David
