Looking for ways to improve!
I am new to the Fresh Loaf but I was referred to the site by a friend and I have seen so many great things here I decided to post for the first time. I just started back at it after a long respite and decided to dust off the baking cobwebs with a simple french bread recipe that I wanted to shape into baguettes. I am looking for any tips or advice that you can provide, I know there are so many bakers here that are better than I am and I would love to hear from you.
The bread turned out well but not quite as flavorful as I remember achieving in the past. Here is the formula I used in baker's percentage (I think, wasn't sure if this is right when using two types of flour) and grams:
- Unbleached Bread Flour - 50% - 135.4g
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour - 50% - 135.4g
- Salt - 3.8% - 5.2g
- Instant Yeast - 0.33% - 1.5g
- Water, room temp - 65% - 176.1g
I mixed this up until I got a shaggy ball, let it sit uncovered for 5 min to allow time for the flour to absorb all the water, then mixed again with a dough hook until well combined. The ball was still fairly lumpy but I was using it as a pre-ferment so I wasn't too worried. I just let it retard in the fridge for two days.
I removed the the pre-ferment from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for an hour to take the chill off. I then mixed it into a fresh batch of the same formula above. So I have 50% pre-ferment plus the formula above(making up the other 50%). I kneaded this for maybe 5 minutes without stopping, let it rest for 10 minutes, then did three S&Fs with about a 15 minute rest between S&Fs.
I shaped into a ball and let rise for an hour in a covered bowl before placing back in the fridge for another 2 days.
On baking day, I let the dough sit on the counter for about an hour before I pulled it out of the bowl. I gently shaped it into a rough rectangle and divided in in two. Did a pre shape into an oblong shape and let that sit for 20 minutes covered to let the gluten relax before I did the final shaping. I tried to be as careful as I could during the shaping process and eventually got them into baguettes that were about 14 inches long. I proofed in a couche for about 2 hours. prepped my oven for high temp baking with a steam pan and stone. I scored the dough with a serrated non-stick knife and threw them in the oven with 1 cup of water in the steam pan and spraying the walls and floor of the oven with water as well. Then lowered the temp from 550 degrees to 450 degrees for the entire time they were in the oven.
I got a decent oven spring and the loaves bloomed more than I expected, so much so that the dough seemed to rip open more than bloom. The crumb was fairly light and spongy, but not quite as open as I would like. The crust was thin, crackly, and delicate. It was actually one of the best crusts I have produced. I love constructive criticism, I am always looking to improve and I know I have a long way to go before I can say I am completely satisfied with my results. Please let me know what you think and provide any suggestions you may have. Thanks!
I would appreciate any advice you could give! Thanks!
To me, anyway. Remember, you can't put butter on a hole, so why would you want more?
Haha, good point! Thanks!
Looks pretty good! I suspect the scores tore due to some slight underproofing, though another possibility could have been excessive tension developed during shaping, or possibly a lot of elasticity was built up in the dough earlier. Or some of each.
The first thing to try would be proofing a little longer, of course, and seeing if that gives you a better bloom.
If that doesn't help, I'd try either reducing the amount of bread flour and/or using a poolish instead of an old dough addition for your preferment to increase extensibility of your dough. Was it difficult to roll out when shaping it, and get it sufficiently long?
Thanks for the tips! I will try your recommendations on my next bake. Sometimes it's so hard to be patient during the final proof when you have been working on a dough for four days! I will try to have a little more patience on my next go. Thanks for taking the time to give me some advice!
Cheers
You're welcome! Just remember not too improve your patience so much that you overproof.
"looking pretty good" and "you can't put butter in the holes" has already been said, if you want criticism, i'd say that you need to give them a much stronger bake, get some crust colour, that will add a nice flavour boost.
cheers
Thanks for the tip! I normally go for a darker color but something wasn't right when I was baking. The bottoms of the loaves were starting to burn and I had to pull them. Maybe my stone was positioned too low in the oven? I have been making pizza more than anything lately and I like the crisp crust I get from baking in a lower oven position. I will try adjusting and maybe that will help me get a more even bake. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I would say that you have developed all the flavor that recipe will give. Perhaps, you might want to try a sourdough recipe for French bread, or an enriched bread for a different type of flavor.
Ford
Sourdough has been on my mind for some time now. I am waiting for the Christmas holiday to build a new starter. It will be a little easier with about 10 days of time off from work and school. Thanks for the suggestion!
I agree with the earlier poster that using a poolish is worth a go. That's how I make baggies and it's how my local artisan bakery makes them. Also longer bake for colour and go for less scores as they look like short baggies, 3 is prob enough. Nevertheless they look great as they are !