straight dough

I am continuing to practice my baguettes.  This latest iteration shows some promise .  It seems my oven bakes slow.  I turned up the heat to 480F on the second batch and got some better results.  I also steamed and steamed for the first 10 minutes of the bake, then switched to convection bake, hoping the increased air flow would help to vent the steam.  One other thing I did was use 10% whole wheat flour in the formula from Txfarmer for straight baguette dough.  I also let the loaves proof a bit longer.  I will continue my quest.  I've ordered a good oven thermometer from Amazon to check the oven's temperature.  Better steaming apparatus is also in the cards - with a trip to Home Depot for some lava rocks. 

Baguette crumb -

First success!

I was finally able to produce baguettes that I am happy about.

(didn’t have the nerves to post here until I had something to show off )

Thanks to txfarmer , I flowed the formula he posted under

Straight Method Baguette - a good starter baguette to practice on 

(with title alteration on the flour parts)

This is my version, and what I did: 

Straight Dough Baguette
Note: makes 3 baguettes

400g bread flour

100g AP flour

375g water
salt, 10g
instant yeast, 2g

Mix everything together. No need for kneading. 

Bulk ferment for three hours, flood three times at 45, 90 and 135min. 

(these are an in-bowl-starch-and-fold )

After three hours pre-shape into 3 small boules. rest for 25 minutes.

Shape into Baguettes and proof at room temp for 40 minutes.

Bake at 460F(240C) for 25 min, with steam for the first couple of minutes.

Turn off oven, crack the door open, and keep baguettes inside for about 5 minutes. 

Take out and cool completely before attempting to eat. 

Note that I preheated my stone at 500F (260C) for an hour to make sure the oven is hot enough, only reduce the temp to 460F when the dough is loaded. 

Thats it! 

here are some photos 

Today, I decided to try Txfarmer's straight dough baguette formula on this post http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/31945/straight-method-baguette-good-starter-baguette-practice 

OK, I'm hooked.  I am now, along with many others, on a quest to make a good baguette.  I made a bunch at the SFBI class Artisan Bread I and it was so much easier to get a nice brown crust on those baguettes with the professional oven.  Now I'm with my home oven and the browning just isn't happening.

Here is a picture of my baguettes to date -

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Close up of the scoring (which could improve but getting better)-

I would like to get the bread to have a little more color.  Not sure what the issue might be.  I have a  gas oven. I used the towel steaming method that SylviaH explained in detail(thank you).  It helped open the scoring. Perhaps I didn't have the steaming loaf pans in the proper positions?  I also used quarry tiles on the top shelf over the baguettes in hopes of creating more of a brick oven effect.  Was that a mistake?  I would like more color on the baguettes.  Should I add some diastatic malt to the mix?  I was using KAF Bread flour not AP, would that do it?  Any and all ideas welcome

Ok, maybe French Toast.  But I heard this reference to Elizabeth David's easy-peasy Summer Pudding recipe by Linda Wertheimer on NPR a while back and thought this has to be a sign:  A use for one formula in my Summer 2012 Tour de Hamelman that I would otherwise have been hard pressed to find, and a smashing crop of raspberries just pouring off our vines this year (plus some market-sourced blueberries).  Pain de Mie would have sufficed, but Chef Jeff's Toast Bread's slightly elevated richness seemed more appropriate.  As a straight dough, its ease of prep fits with the no-frills simplicity of Elizabeth David's recipe, offered here in the Oxford Times.

          

Can't go too far wrong with a desert consisting of nothing more than bread, fresh fruit and sugar.  With a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, this is one utterly satisfying seasonal pleasure.

Cheers,

Tom

Greetings all.  After returning from a few weeks traveling (pleasure and business), I have been waking up my starter from a prolonged hybernation.  I was looking through some very old recipes for a straight dough bread to make in the meantime, and I found this recipe in an ancient archive.  In fact, I'm guessing it is one of the first (if not the first) yeasted bread I ever made oh so many years ago.  It is Cottage Cheese Onion Dill, and is very tasty and makes a nice sandwich loaf with its tight crumb.  It uses very little water with cottage cheese and an egg supplying most of the liquid.  Sometimes it is nice to have bread in only 3 hours. The recipe follows the photos.  Hope you enjoy it!

-Brad

I've on a quest to make baguette,  fluffly,  thin crust,  light, open crumbs.  My baguettes so far has been on a thicker crust,  not so open crumbs and a little too chewy. I'm not sure when I will be able to to achieve what I want to achieve, but I'm starting to keep track of this records in my blog.  https://sites.google.com/a/jlohcook.com/jennycook/latest-postings/baguette-experiment2

So far,  I've done 3 experiments,  they are still not ideal at all.  I'm looking to improve my techniques before I go for taste.  Currently,  I'll stick to a recipe from Peter Reinhart on french loaf. I'm going to continue trying until the day that I can consistently achieve what I'm looking for.

Perhaps I'm so used to having Asian baguettes, especially the Japanese bakeries here.   Actually I have no idea how a french baguette looks or taste like,  only from the local french bakery here,  not sure if it is authentic.  Anyway,  we like the taste of baguettes that are really light,  crusty, flaky crust,  open crumbs and doesn't quite fill your stomach even when you eat up a full loaf.

I'd be happy to hear from anyone who has suggestions for me on my techniques.  Here are also some pictures to show you what I've done so far.