Your SJ SD is a big inspiration for this bread, thank you so much!

Thanks! :)

Most bakeries probably would think the long schedule is not worth it, good thing we can make these at home!

Thank you :)

I am glad you find it helpful, it meant as a rough guideline, most probably will need to adjust more or less.

THank you for being so encouraging!

Please do. :)

THank you for the kind words, but I am far from "mastering" it, just experimenting and trying out ideas, that's the fun of it right?

Agreed, LindyD., fermentation mastered!

Natural levain and cold fermented all that time...plus the small matter of 75% hydration.

Some talent  here!

Wonderful delicate baguettes txfarmer

BW

Andy

It's just practice. I have been making it so much, and have made all kinds of mistakes in the process, but each mistake taught me something. Once I even forgot to turn on the oven until after scoring!

bulk rise == main/first fermentation == the first rise you do before shaping after mixing

if you haven't, may I refer you to the "handbook" link of this site, very useful. specifically: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/appendix-glossary :

Fermentation: (1) the process by which yeast metabolizes sugars to produce carbon dioxide and alcohol (2) (aka bulk fermentation, first fermentation) the period of time the dough rests after mixing and before dividing/shaping.

What is S&F?

Please advise!

Txfarmer, I am not sure I missed it, but how many baguettes does this recipe make?  I already printed out the recipe and will give it very careful consideration for this weekend......   (cross your fingers for me!)

S&F is not degassing the dough. For me, I simple oil my hands, take out the dough, gently stretch it with my right hand, fold back (seam under), repeat with left side, put back to the container smooth side up. The whole process takes <1 min, consists of 4 movements exactly (right hand out, right hand in, left hand out, left hand in), the dough never touches the table (so there would not be sticking), just my well oiled hands. That's just my way of doing S&F, there are other ways that's equally effective, but however you do it, be gentle, do NOT punch down, you should be able to preserve most of the gas.

It's not steam bake, it's "bake with steam", here's the explanation from the handbook section of this forum[Note: since you are new to baking, I suggest to first read through the handbook of this forum (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook), and follow the lessons section of the forum to make your first loaf (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/yourfirstloaf). I wouldn't make this buguette as your first bread, even though it looks "hands off", it actualy involves a lot of judgement calls that require experience. Not to mention the challenge of shaping 75% wet dough into baguettes.]:

-------------------

Steaming: A crackling, crunchy crust requires more than just a hot oven. It also needs steam, and that's not easy to do in a home oven. But it can be done. Here are a couple of methods:

• The Cast Iron Pan Method: Under the stone, even on the bottom of the oven, if you like, place a cast iron pan and let it heat up along with the stone. Not one you like to use day-to-day, because this process will rip the seasoning right off.

Just before you put the bread in the oven, boil some water. Get a towel and, after you open the oven door, cover the glass of the oven door with the towel. This will prevent water droplets from hitting the hot glass and shattering it (ask me how I know.) You may also want to shield the front of the pan with aluminum foil so that droplets don't jump out of the pan onto the glass and crack it (again, ask me how I know).

Load the bread and dump one cup of boiling water in the pan. WEAR MITTS WHEN YOU DO THIS. Close the oven door, and let it bake. About halfway through the bake, remove the pan so that the bread can finish in a dry oven.

• Covered Cooker Method: In this method, do not use a baking stone. Instead, place a cast-iron Dutch oven (enameled and non-enameled both work fine) or a clay cloche (Sassafras makes a good one - you can find them at Amazon or King Arthur Flour for about $50) in the oven and let it heat up for 45 minutes. Pull out the oven rack, take off the lid, plop your bread into the bottom, score it quickly and replace the top and the rack.

About 15 to 20 minutes before the bake is done, remove the top so that the bread can finish in a dry oven.

The covered cooker captures the steam given off by the dough, and so mimics a wood-fired brick oven. Unfortunately, this method only works for round loaves (though Sassafras also makes a 14 1/2 x 5 1/8 inch clay cooker which works for batards).

Here's a good tutorial:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10251/starting-starter-sourdough-101-tutorial

A good summary here:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/sourdough

100% means water:flour ration is 1:1, which is baker's percentage - i.e. (X/total flour weight)%

For any new comer, I would highly recommend to go to the "Handbook" and "Lessons" section of this website, it would save you a lot of time and headache.

Let it sit at room temperature for a whlle longer and see whats up.  My dough "usually" (I've only done this process 3 times) takes 4 or 5 hours out of the 'firdge to double.  And what does "room temperture" mean?  I do this phase in the proofing box set to 73F.  If it's colder, it'll take longer.  Try to get a feel for the dough.  Maybe it'll come 'round with some more time.  You've got nothing to lose by waiting and watching.

Good luck!

:-Paul

From my experience, once the autolyse is done and it comes to inseminating, either with dry yeast or with a starter, it's better to mix salt+yeast thoroughly, let it rest for a couple hours over the counter, then give it about 10 S&F and let it begin bubbling before putting it in the fridge. Once the reaction has started, it really keeps on going despite of the low temperature. But you gotta give it a chance to start.

In any case, don't, i repeat : don't throw your dough away, just reinseminate it with a couple teaspoons dry yeast, mix thoroughly, let it gain 25 % in volume and refrigerate it at will. That'll do just fine, believe me, it'll just be a "pain sur levain de levure" instead of a "pain au levain".

Seb

Like Paul said above, you won't lose anything by waiting. Some starter just needs more time to recover from cold. What's your room temp? Mine is around 73F. If possible move it to a warm spot, like oven with pilot light on. If your room is indeed much colder than 73, such as 60s, next you need more time to rise after mixing before putting in the fridge.

I'm a fan of flour.  My whole preshape/shape process is like this:

First I flour a basket that's lined with cloth, I flour it plenty and I dust the counter with flour as well.  I put the basket on the scale and zero it out then I pour/scrape the entire dough mass into the basket and get a weight.  Then I calculate what that means to me, that is, how many lumps of what weight I want to end up with.  For example, 4 baguettes of 220g each if my total dough weight was 880 grams.

I then dump the lump of dough out of the basket onto the floured counter and separate what looks to be the right size and using the counter scraper and my hands I put it back in the basket to check the weight and make additions/subtractions as needed to get to the weight I want for a single piece.  I then pull the sides up and incorporate the pieces into a single ball.  I do this carefully and lightly and pinch the final ends together to encourage it staying one ball.  If my hands start to stick i dust them with more flour.  I don't use a tremendous amount of flour, but I try to keep flour between me and the dough so I don't stick to it.  Then I cover the preshaped pieces and let them rest the prescribed amount of time.

Shaping is similar.  I generally shape batards, but for baguettes especially I would preshape into kind of hot dog bun shapes.  For final shaping I would just do a single lengthwise fold, pulling gently on the dough while I was doing that to lengthen it.  Then I would pinch/seal the fold and then I would roll the dough.  Rolling is touchy - too much flour and it doesn't roll, it slides, too little flour and it doesn't roll, it sticks, so it's hard to find the place between too much and not enough, but it's possible.  Anyway, I roll the baguettes, hopefully just once or twice and they're long enough.  Then proof, etc.

The trick, for me, in the whole process is getting enough flour without too much flour.

Watching lots of videos on handling dough is helpful.

Good luck.

:-Paul

First of all, baguette shaping is the trickest shaping procedure in all of bread shapes.

Secondly, baguette shaping with a 75% hydration dough is challenging. No ways around it.

Thirdly, unfortunately there's not really a trick to it. Just do it a lot, know from experience what needs to be done (keep the surface tension taunt yet keeping the gas inside intact, iron hands velvet gloves), and do just those movements, no extra touching at all - because the more you touch it, the more you stick, and the more you man-handle the dough.

Finally, if you have not made baguettes before, may I suggest to 1) watch some shaping videos on youtube (search baguette shaping) 2) practice on some dryer dough (68% hydration is a good start)

Some have asked me how much flour I use, the truth is I don't know and it changes. 2 months ago, I probably flour a lot more than now because I have become a bit more familiar with the procedure. Keep at it, practice practice practice. Baguette is one of those breads that really shows how much time you've invested in it, no shortcuts at all. I have made baguettes at thsi hydration for 6 months+, once or twice every week, I still make shaping mistakes every time.

Even though inexperienced shaping would result in untraditional shapes, but usually it doesn't affect taste that much. If you bread comes out weird "tasting", usually it means something went wrong with fermentation, not shaping. A well fermentated dough can recover from "some" degassing during shaping. In fact the original Gosseline baguette doesn't even shape the dough, just stretch it long and call it "rustic", the fermentation is the key.

No, it's not very sour. It has a mild taste.

For pineapple juice solution, see here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1 , it should tell you the reasons for adding pineapple juice and you can decide for yourself which way to go. I have no tried pineapple juice method, so I don't have first hand opnion on it.

The search function on the left is great for getting answer fast (search for pineapple juice, the link above should be among the first ones returned), and you can get a lot of people's input on the topic.

Good luck!

about the crumb - my good bread knife stayed in LA, so I had to use a horrible knife to cut my bread, and that messed up quite a bit. Amazing the difference a good knife can make, I advise all of you who use a less than great bread knife to invest in a good product

1. Starter not active enough

2. Too cold -- not enough time to rise, keep dough at room temp for longer to rise, or use warmer water to mix (but not so hot that it will kill the starter)

3. Not enough strength in the dough -- this is NOT a no knead formula, it requires some S&F to develope dough strength, without enough strength, you won't get enough rise both in fermentation and oven.

Like I said in the original post, it's a formula that's not "easy", it requires tweaking according to you own temperature and starter condition. However the rule of the thumb is that if your starter is indeed alive, give it enough time to bulk rise, and develop enough strength by S&F during that period, so that it will grow in volume by 50% to 100%(i.e. double or nearly double).

Good luck with your move and baking!

It's a great idea to use this dough for pizza!

You beat me to it! As soon as I read txfarmer's post on this dough and saw that amazing crumb, I thought 'pizza'! Maybe I'm subconsciously planning an escape route in advance. I've made a lot of SD bread over the last 2 years, but have never tried baguettes...if the shaping doesn't work out, I can always flatten 'em and change to pizza!

Currently have txfarmer's baguette dough waiting in the fridge, now only a few hours off shaping. The moment of truth approacheth!

Cheers
Ross

I raised my starter following the "Bread Baker's Apprentice" method, without pineapple juice. If you are not familiar with it, try search "BBA starter" on this forum, you will get lots of good info.

S&F is stretch and fold.

Straight from the fridge.

- To make the dough "hold shape" you need to work on shaping. make sure the surface tention is tight. The dough is wet so it will look a bit flat, but if the dough is strong enough, it will spring up in the oven. Fermentate ( I am guessing you mean proofing) longer is NOT the solution, it will only lead to LESS oven spring.

- Open crumb (holes) is related to many things: proper developement of dough strength, proper fermentation, shaping with "iron hand, velvet glove"(tight surface, without disturbing air bubbles inside), proper steaming and baking. It will come with practice.

Very nice!

You are confusing "autolyse" with "starter" (instant yeast or sourdough). Autolyse==mixing water and water, let it sit for a period of time to let gluten form and water be absorbed. No yeast or sourdough starter is added at that step.It's independent of the fermentation process.

Putting aside autolyse, you can of course use yeast instead of SD starter, but you'll have to adjust fermenation schedule and the bread you get will have different characteristics.

I cover mine with plastic, haven't noticed too much moisture.

Covered.

After proofing

After scoring (not the same batch as above, a little wetter probably)

Suggestion: tighter shaping, shorter proofing, more folds during bulk fermentation to increase dough strength.