Slashing advice--no grigne
I have recently moved from baking Boules (which I usually scored in a square around the edges and got a decent grigne much of the time) to attempting baguettes.
But I can't seem to get the slashes to work right.
I'm visiting my wife's family, so don't have my own oven, grains, bannetons, etc. (I packed a smal piece of my sourdough in my luggage though, which my wife thinks is bordering on obsessive, but that's another story ;-)
I think I managed to compensate for the new environment and make a fairly reasonable batch of whole grain sourdough baguettes (about 40% whole wheat flour, with what my mother in law calls "Porridge Oats"--oats with other assorted mystery grains and seeds).
Fed white sourdough and soaked WW flour and grains overnight, then mixed and raised slowly over the early afternoon, shaped at dinnertime, doing the final proof in improvised baskets (bread pans lined with floured dishtowels), retarded overnight,. I took the loaves out of the fridge at about 4:00 am this morning (then back to bed), up at 6:30 to preheat the oven, baked at about 7:00 for family breakfast at 8:30.
I had lots of steam in the oven from a big solid cookie pan that I put boiling water into before and after I loaded the loaves. The oven was still steamy enough to momentarily fog up my glasses when I opened the oven to rotate the loaves after 15 minutes.
The crumb is smooth and deliciously cool, the crust is thin, caramelized mahogany brown and crackly, with little blisters all over. (Photos below.)
But I just can't get the slashes right. Even with a new, very sharp, kraft-knife blade, held at about 30° from parallel to the loaf's skin, I cant get the slashes to open up much.
The whole inside of the slash filled in nicely and expanded just a little to make the place where the slashes were completely even with the rest of the crust. But they don't open further (no grigne). So it seems like the internal pressure is sufficient, but either the steam is not enough or the slashes are done clumsily.
I recall PR recommending that one say "slit" as one slashes confidently, but the higher hydration dough "grabs" the blade as I slash the loaves. So I feel like I have to be extra gentle or I'll maul and collapse the proofed loaves. I end up gently cutting, and then going over the cuts again to get the slashes about 1/4 inch deep.
From the photos below, I hope some of you can give advice.
I'd appreciate any hints, please, on what to do differently. Deeper or shallower cuts? Different shape cuts from the vaguely "S" shaped slashes I used? Wet the blade? Proof a little less so the loaves are not so fragile?
Thanks,
Mason.
The top slash here looks like it tried to pull apart further at the very top, but just didn't manage to pull it off.