The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Bouabsa double hydration baguette video

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Bouabsa double hydration baguette video

Hello,

I’ve returned from our more than two months away from home and from our oven, but made good on a promise to a distant acquaintance.  I said that I would try to create a video of the making of the Bouabsa baguette for her, and I did.  As my first baking “project” since returning home.

It is posted on You Tube and comes in at a whopping 38 minutes, and is quite detailed, with the first ~9 minutes alone talking about the ingredients and the tools that I use. If you have trouble falling asleep at night, this is the video for you :-) .  However, for anyone wanting to learn the steps and methodology of making this simple, yet incredibly satisfying bread, it may be worth your time.  I use French folds and stretch & folds for my mixing and folding here.

If you have a hankerin’, it is posted on You Tube as www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYvORu_oLYc .

alan

Comments

Our Crumb's picture
Our Crumb

I'm surprised no one has commented on your superb tutorial, Alan.  Before it sinks off the homepage and into TFL history, I wanted to say Good Show.  Perhaps few have had 30+ min of YouTube time this week.  But I was fortunate to have that during an otherwise mindless computer task and now feel more confident than ever about making baguettes a la Bouabsa. 

Even though you make me feel like the lazy French Folder that I am (300!?!?), I wanted to thank you for making, and posting, the video.  Much appreciated. 

Tom

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Thanks for your comment, Tom.  I'm kinda surprised myself that it didn't garner an earlier comment.  But I didn't create the video for expediency, and so for a lot of folks, perhaps a 40 minute commitment is asking too much.

And although 300 French folds seem like a lot (and in a way, it is) a practiced hand makes the task go fast, and the whole step shouldn't take much more than 6-7 minutes.  That allows for many seconds per fold.  Once you get the hang of it, as you can see on the video, you can both knock off an awful lot of them quickly AND get your daily fitness in at the same time!

I've read that it is quite difficult to overdevelop the gluten with hand folding, so that should pose no problem.

A point that I failed to make, and there were a lot of them in retrospect, is that the same basic techniques for handling baguettes and hand mixing are, at least to me, universally applied.  it is just the timings and steps to the formulae that shift just a bit.

alan

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Anyie can learn toake baguettes the Bouabsa way.

Happy baking

Song Of The Baker's picture
Song Of The Baker

Thank you very much for this Alfanso.  I wish there were more in depth videos available out there such as this.

Is your oven convection?  I use convection and find it really makes a difference for all around even bakes.

Happy baking, and great job.

John

alfanso's picture
alfanso

No, not a convection oven, just a standard electric that tops out at 500F.  Which makes it a bit more difficult to get a nice charred bottom on pizzas, but works just fine for breads.  My understanding is that a convection oven allows for a lower temp. during the baking.  This is why my oven is set for 480F and stays there for the entire bake.

alan

jkandell's picture
jkandell

Nice video! Very clear.  Since you too are a practical man who likes to go economical, may I humbly suggest checking out harbor freight for your next scale?  They have ones that measure by the gram and 0.1 gram at very reasonable prices.  I feel more comfortable knowing I'm getting my cheap scale dirty.  They are just as accurate as the more expensive ones imo.