Love the crumb on those baguettes and many thanks for the thorough write-up and recipe.

FP 

I am desperately trying to find the time with NO success to do a write up about some sourdough + yeast baguettes using Anis's techniques. The flavour is wonderful!!!! Since you said the flavour wasn't that great with these ones, maybe you are just a die hard sourdough lover like myself. The sourdough added the flavour and the yeast, the lightness (though not as light as a full yeast baguette, but who cares). They were wonderful the next day toasted and it's rare that I like baugettes the next day.

Your baguettes do look lovely. I realized that the incisions do have to be deep to really get nice oven bloom (at least in my oven). And the stone has to be very well heated. They also need longer baking than I would have imagined. Anis made his apprentice put some back on the oven even though I thought they looked great. Then when I made them, I realized quickly that they LOOK finished but aren't!

I'm sure you'd love the flavour better with real T65 organic flour.

Jane 

David,

From where I'm sitting it looks like you've "nailed it"...Big Time.  You should feel very good.  You managed to figure it out via reverse engineering.  Thanks for keeping at it and expecially for sharing your techniques and recipe.  They're beautiful. 

Howard - St. Augustine, FL

Your baguettes look beautiful inside and out. Sorry you're not overly excited about the flavor, I wonder if Jane's SD recipe might please you more. They are gorgeous though and I'm sure would please most anyone who tried them. Thanks for the post.

About the chicken cacciatore...I always make mine the day before we eat it because it's best that way, same as osso bucco. Is that what you do too? Did you ever sizzle up some pancetta to start your cacciatore? Yum. Did you mix the broad beans with the fedelini or were they two separate side dishes? The whole meal sounds sooo good. Your baguettes must have been perfect with this dinner.

I've been getting Rancho Gordo's Giant Lima Beans and other beans and we just love them. Is Rancho Gordo near you? They are a great source of organic dried beans and if you buy as much as you need at one time the cost is not as bad because the postage is always $3.00. I think that's right.                      weavershouse

What else can I say?

I made a batch today (first time). Let me restate that. I made a batch based on the same measurements minus the commercial yeast. I see in your description you state it has a, "chewy mouth" and crust a little thicker than your traditional version. Mine has a that chewy texture and I used all purpose instead of bread flour. I am wondering if the bread flour in the preferment changed the crumb.

I used 215 grams of preferment (made 20 hours earlier and with bread flour).

They have a great taste and the crust is a little thicker than a store baguette. I had some issues with getting them into the oven (well, many issues). The crust kind of shatters like a thin hard candy when you bite, which I really like.

Anyway, you, Eric, Mark? Any thoughts?

Eli

www.elisfoods.wordpress.com

First of all, thank you for providing the cup measure for the recipe.  I have not gotten my scale so the volume measure is really helpful.  I tried to follow the recipe as much as I can.  However I am very eager to put my new wild starter (it was ready to use four days ago.  thank you jane for all the help.) to use that I replaced the instant yeast in the recipe with 1/4 cup of my pet.  I also added 1/3 cup more water.   I am new to sourdough so I am not used to all the shaping, scoring, etc.  Here's the result of my first attempt.

I have not gone through the shaping and scoring tutorials...I will eventually.  I did not use a baking stone.  Is baking stone critical to helping the bread rise?  My bread did not seem to rise like in most of the pictures on this site.  I know there's a lot of other variables that contribute to this, any pointers would be appreciated.

By the way, here's the photo of the crumb:

I loved the taste of the bread.   Hopefully, attempt #2 will be better.  Thanks again.

I set up a Group Bake on Facebook for this week, using Greenstein's French Baguette recipe.  It's a fairly straightforward recipe, and since a lot of the bakers in the group are novices, I thought we'd start with something simple.  That said, for my own baguettes, I decided to try Anis Bouabsa's recipe, as I've wanted to try it since I read about it here.

I was surprised at how slack this dough was.  I knew it would be, from what I've read about it, but handling it was still a shock.  I followed the instructions and David's hints. and was really pleased with the results.

These were easily the best-tasting baguettes I have ever had.  And the crumb, well just see for yourself:

I am going to make the Greenstein baguettes with some friends tomorrow (sort of a mini baking class at my house -- and I'm being compensated with really good wine!).  But I think the Anis baguettes may be the new standard.

Here's my version...  It's sort of a hybrid of Anis Bouabsa's and Reinhart's Pain Ancienne...

Here's the link to my original thread with recipe: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10546/facebook-group-bake-french-baguettes-22-282009

Tim

This actually sat in the fridge for almost 60 hours (something came up)

I am very novice and am having fun

How I envy all of you, eh !!!!!!!!  Thanks for posting.  I've made notes and must get this underway in the near future.

Robert in Anchorage

I have found Anis Boubasa's baguette recipe to be the best pizza dough for me.....When I make pizza dough, I use bread flour instead of AP flour.  I use 1 tsp. instant yeast instead of 1/4 tsp.  ....and I add 3/4 of 1/4 cup (weird measurement) olive oil.  This is a suprising very good pizza dough......

Photo of pizza....the  crust is very  crispy and  light......I really appreciate this Anis  Boubasa recipe.  My  baguettes come out very well using his recipe. 

I would like to thank you for this very inspiring post. This baguette was the best I've tasted so far in this pasrt of the globe. And the great news about it was how easy and straightforward the steps were.

I need to practice the scoring for an appealing look, nevertheless the crust was delicious.

Thanks again

Dione

I made this recipe last week and I must say I didn't get the flavor that everyone is talking about.  It was probably the blandest bread I've made so far (I'm wondering now if I had somehow forgotten to add the salt).  The dough was also so slack that it turned into a ciabatta shape.  I did get the crumb (holes and sheen).  I'll give it a second go.

Thanks for inspiring post! This is my first try, and in the quest for a proper french baguette, I agree with the rest that these have great taste. I do have a little training to undergo in order to get the shaping right (obviously), but I'm very pleased with the holes and the taste. Used 3,5 dl water to 500 grams of flour.

I got no rise at all. Basically a dead lump. Not the ingredients, as they're all fresh and have yield two good loaves today. I went very light on the kneading and wonder if I went too light. 

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I have avoided baguettes because I could never get a good slash going (I know, I just need to practice on hundreds of baguettes every day, right?  :))

This recipe was so amazingly easy!  The mixing, chucking it in the fridge, the pre-forming, it's all so simple.  The only slightly complicated thing is factoring out what time you actually want to bake them.

Also, I tried a ceramis knife for slashing, dunno if it's the dough is easy to slash or that knife just slashes anything, but those were my best slashes ever.  (yes, I know, I still need practice :))

I used King Arthur Bread Flour, instant yeast, kosher salt and filtered well water.  I am definitely making these again.  I think I'll try it for pizza dough tomorrow night.

sorry, don't have any crumb pics, family attacked the bread before I could get any.  :)

David, thanks from downunder David for your efforts and also those of Jane and the rest of the team. I am experimenting at home with a conventional fan forced electric oven, available flours and your version of producing Anis baguettes. Tonight I used plane white flour to make 2. One was placed on a rack in a sealed fish baker that provided steam for the first 10 mins. The second was on the top shelf, with NO steam. The first was much better. I have another mix in the frig for the morning but using 80% Pasta Dura flour and 20% Wholemeal to get a mix of 14% protein BUT I have no idea re ash content or whether it comes from soft or hard cherry wheat. Tonights results suggest that the steam component in the cooking makes much better bread. So how do others manage to make the steam? I hope to be able to post pics after the next batch.

Here is my crumb from Australian flour, 80% pasta dura and 20% wholemeal, all organic and hard wheat at about 14% protein and 0.6% ash. I took a pic of the loaves but accidentally deleted them but my shot of the crumb along with wine served to my guests lives on. I was very happy with this but it does not have the same big holes as Anis nor was it as gooey out of the frig. I suspect I need a little more water (carbon filtered rain water chez moi). I followed Davids recipe precisely. Flavours were great. I am getting my wine tank person to weld up a custom device for my oven that will in effect, allow me to use steam for the first 10 mins as I used here by using a fish poacher. I will explore temp and steam further over the next few months. I used a one sided razor blade as the "lame". Vanished in moments at lunch.

Hi, what if instead of yeast, I use about 100 grs of 100% hydtratation sourdough? I'

I know this is an old thread but I just tried your formula for Anis Buabasa's baguette.  For my baguettes I used KAF all purpose since that is what I had on hand.  The fridge fermentation was shorter at 14 hours due to my scheduling issues here.  I'm happy with the results and enjoy learning new techniques. Once again thank you David and all others for sharing your wealth of knowlege in baking at home. :)

The best I've ever had the pleasure of making. This recipe goes against instinct. I was certain I'd get no rise as the dough seemed dead (just a few bubbles), but I scored and steamed and wham it delivered. Crunch, taste, crumb - it's all in there and it's all so good. This is a keeper recipe. :-)

Here are some pics:

Nice work, Petey!

David

Thanks Dave.

I have to eat some more now. LOL

Wow, they exploded!  They look fantastic.

Nick

Thank you David and Jane. I tried this formula last night - great bread!  It was only my 3rd attempt at making bread so the sticky dough was a bit of a challenge to handle.  I need to purchase a peel to help get the bread off the couche without making a mess of it.  I also tried to score it but my knife isn't sharp enough - yet another tool on my shopping list.

I will be making it again this weekend.

I tried the formula and followed everything to a tee. I'm an experienced 'baguett-er' which probably means I have some bad habits... but leaving out an ingredient or missing a 20-minute folding isn't one of them. (Isn't?) In any case; these were a complete failure for me. I'm very comfortable with slack dough; in fact, I prefer the challenge. 

Flat, ugly... sorry; it didn't work for me at all.

I cooked professionally for 10 years and even took an estage with a Paris trained baker. Yet, bread baking never quite appealed to me until I wanted to make everything that I eat completely organic and for the most part unprocessed. I really enjoyed making a 10 minute flat bread from a blog titled Arabic Bites. I make the requisite Friday night pizza using a 20 minute whole wheat dough recipe. A few years ago I received Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book and was a little put off by the length of time they took. Having made several of those breads recently and now having two successes with these baguettes I think I am a bread addict!

Greetings from Australia David,

David thank you for all the information you share on this bread site. Yours and others sharing makes this a friendly site to visit. Again thank you.

I am just wondering again about product language in different countries and I feel I need your help or any one else who may have an answer.

You mention that you use "instant yeast". Here in Australia I use an "instant dried yeast". Are these the same styles of yeast being used under different names in another country or are they totally different yeast performing the same job?

I hope my question makes sense!!!!............Pete.

There are three types of yeast routinely used in the USA: Fresh yeast, Active Dry yeast, and Instant Yeast (or Instant Dry Yeast). They are interchangeable, but to produce equivalent results, i.e. proofing times, one needs to use differing amounts when substituting one for another called for in a formula.

Additionally, Instant yeast can be added to directly to the dry ingredients, Fresh yeast and Active Dry yeast require hydrating in warm water, and proofing.

Here's a link to a tutorial that gives more details. http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/yeastbreadtip.htm.

I'd make a small wager, your Instant Dried Yeast is the same as USA Instant Yeast.

David G

Hey guys!

  I tried this recipe tonight with some moderate results.  I used the remainder of some RobinHood "best for bread" flour which I understand is bleached.  I did not get very much rise in the fridge at all, and very little (if any) when it came out.  I did get a decent oven spring. 

  Even with steam the crust is more chewy than anything.  Was this due to te quality of the flour?  Did the bleaching ingrediant stuffle the small amount of yeast?

  The bread tastes fine, just a very closed crumb with a couple of bigger holes and no real crust.

 Thoughts?

 -D

I tried to cook it and I did it! very tasty!

Hi David,

I am wondering if you can help me. I have tried this recipe three times now, i tried to do it to a tee, to the best of my abilities, though i am not an expert by any means. The problem i have is that the crust  was way too hard , on all three batches. I personally add bit of dried parsley into the dough itself, and then sprinkle with some sea salt, black pepper and poppy seeds just before baking, so the taste is divine, that's if you can bit into the baguette...So i was wondering what would cause the crust to be so hard, they seem a good brown colour when done, so i am thinking perhaps i am keeping them too long in the oven?

 Thanks in advance for all your help!

MrsW

Is there any ill effects if you leave it in the fridge for 24 hours? Is there a particular reason why it needs to be 21 hours?

Also, when you're shaping the baguettes, should you minimize flouring or use oil on the worksurface? I've read a bunch of posts on this subject, but it'll be my first time making a real baguette shape. Thanks.

Hey, it worked!  I thought it wasn't going to move, but they turned out pretty good!

I went way over the 21 hour thing, cause I couldn't get home fast enough, but looks like it still worked?

Also I just shaped them right out of the frig.  Whoops.  Read that I was supposed to wait 45 min. after a pre-shape.

Anyways, too hot to cut open.  Very easy though, excited to taste them.  Mine didn't grow too much in the frig at all, even after so much time had past, so I thought there was no way it would work!  But looks pretty good! :)

Thanks David for the formula! :)

Faith

MAN!  Okay, cut it open!  I even had crumbs on my cutting board!  I was suprised!!  My mom said it was good! :)

Wow, thanks!!  So easy and totally awesome!!

Hey guys. Thanks so much for your recipe and notes on how to make these. I made them for the first time and had a couple issues. The dough was very sticky after retarding. It stuck to my hands, it stuck to the countertop when I was shaping them - which made shaping difficult. After proofing en couche, it even stuck to the floured linens (using linen cloth napkins). When transferring the baguettes to the parchment, they stuck to the linens and their shape got a little snagged. Then they stuck to the parchment and were hard to reposition.  I used a floured plastic cutting board for a flipping board, which also didn't go so well. They stuck to that too. After getting these in the oven, they didn't rise well. I'd say the baguettes were 2 inches wide and 1-3 inches high. Some parts got flattened from the tranferring to the parchment earlier. But I expected more oven spring, as the shaped and proofed loaves changed little from unbaked to baked. Still tasted great, crispy crust and open crumb (where not flattened). Reminded me of real Parisian baguettes - this is probably as close as we'll get in America! Obviously, I need more practice handling these things but can anything be done to encourage more of a rise or oven spring? Is the dough supposed to be that sticky or should I use less water next time? I did go about 26 hours of retarding.

In the method, it simply says "mix and knead," I believe. How long should I knead by hand after mixing, and before the stretch and folds? What level of gluten development am I looking for? Thanks for all the great tips and techniques!

How are you achieving steam in a standard (convection) oven?

I tried the recipe and was very pleased with the result.  I was very happy with the amount of oven spring I got.  I've always had trouble getting good oven spring until I tried this recipe.  It more than tripled in size in the oven. 

I tried this recipe again but this time I thought I'd try making a sandwith loaf.  I followed exactly the same procedure but there was very little oven spring and so the loaf turned out very dense.  Does anyone know why this might be?  The only thing I changed was using a loaf pan rather than baking freeform. 

I tried this recipe, but with a bit smaller scale and it is the first time for me to use the Autolyse method, I let the dough rest in the fridge for 20 hours and wow it did not rise as I usually get when using other methods.

I fixed the dough with 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of yeast and 3 tablespoons of water... the end result was merely good texture, but salty.

does the amount of salt cause the yeast not to function as desired? or it it the type of salt I am using?

since I am not using Kosher salt, I had to reduce the amount of salt, and to have the baguette fit into the baking stone, I had to portion the dough into small pieces.

the dough has gone thorugh 19 hours of fermentation in the fridge.

taste, inside texture, and outer crust are great, but the color and final shape is not as desired.. I will leave you with the pictures.