So this weekend I went for another round of the Anis baguettes. I am loving the recipe--so tasty, so crusty! Plus the practice (and video tutorials posted around here--thanks!) are definitely helping me work on slashing and shaping.

Which brings me to my current question. I thought I did a pretty good job (for me) with the slashing this time. And the cuts definitely opened nicely in the oven as far as shape goes. But I'm not getting any sort of color/texture/crust distinction between the slashed areas and the rest of the crust. Here's a picture, you can see that the loaf is springing and opening, but it's pretty much an even brown all over, like the cut is just a shaped ridge...

This happens similarly with my sourdough, so I figure it's something I'm doing, as opposed to an issue with the dough itself. Any ideas?

Since I returned from a class on the classic French breads at KAF I've been attempting to reproduce the quality of the bakes we accomplished there. Especially with baguettes where, with a still shaky scoring technique, I nonetheless managed to produce some decent looking grignes while there.

What I discovered at home, however, is that my gas oven is like a sieve when it comes to steam retention. I also found that my scoring techniques had regressed, if anything. The result has been bread with a wonderful crust that is crackly, and a crumb that, while a little tighter than it would be if my scoring was opening, has a wonderful flavor - particularly when using a poolish which imparts a nice nuttiness.

But on the whole, it's been frustrating. Until today. While my cuts are still sealing prematurely, and depriving the loaves of maximum spring, I finally accomplished gringes that actually look like they should, and which did allow the crumb to open up a bit more.

What happened? I think a combination of two things:

1) In attempting to holding my lame at a 30° angle to the top of the baguette, I think I've actually gone too close to horizontal, and the result's been a noticeable pulling of the dough. Today I approached from a steeper angle - probably closer to 45°, and the result was cleaner cuts. (You can see that my scoring was more successful on the bottom loaf than the top one). And I also made the slashes with more confidence and less hesitation. I kept thinking of Reinhart's injunction to his students to imagine slitting open an envelope.

2) I heavily misted the loaves just after scoring them, right before putting them into the oven. I used a cup and a half of boiling water poured into a cast iron pan in the bottom of the stove instead of the usual one. And finally, after one minute, I very briefly opened the oven and again misted the tops of the loaves.

Obviously I haven't totally solved the steaming issue, as my cuts didn't bloom to the degree I hoped. But for the first time I've got recognizable gringes.

It has me grinning along with the baguettes!

Larry