Yorkville Sourdough Baguettes

I can’t believe it has been more than a hear since I last baked baguettes and even longer since I’ve made this formula.  I am definitely out of practice, the shaping wasn’t perfect but each successive one was better shaped than the previous.  I will need to do another bake in the nearish future to try to get the muscle memory back.  In the meantime, I’m not mad at this bake.  I particularly like the blistered and thin crisp crust.  They went very well with the Chicken Marbella Plums two ways that I made as the main course.

Overnight Levain build ferment 75°F 10-12 hours

78°F 9 hours to peak

In the morning, to your mixing bowl add  water and diastatic malt  to dissolve, then add levain.  Use your spatula to cut the levain into small pieces.  Next add AP flour and mix to combine.  Allow to fermentolyse for 10 mins.  Slap and fold x 100 then add salt and hold back water gradually working in until fully absorbed by massaging and then Rubaud kneading the dough, then slap and fold x 200.  Can also use your stand mixer.

Bulk Fermentation 82*F until aliquot jar shows 20% rise.

Do folds every 20 mins doing 3 folds

Could do cold retard at this point for up to overnight. (Aliquot jar 20% rise)

Divide and pre-shape rest for 15 mins

Shape en couche with final proof until aliquot jar shows 60% rise then (optional) cold retard shaped baguettes en couche for at least 15 minutes for easier scoring.  I often do this for convenience as the oven is pre-heating.

Pre-heat oven 500*F after 30 mins add Silvia towel in pan with boiling water.

Transfer baguettes from couche to peel on parchment

Score each baguette and brush with water.  Then transfer to oven, bake on steel.

New baking instructions

Bake with steam pouring 1 cup of boiling water to cast iron skillet dropping temperature to 480*F

The baguettes are baked with steam for 9 mins.  Decrease the temperature to 450°F and continue to bake with steam for another 4 mins.  The steam equipment is removed venting the oven of steam.  The oven is left at 450ºF but convection is turned on and the baguettes bake for 8 mins rotating them halfway.  The oven temperature is then dropped to 375ºF and the baguettes rotated again if needed and baked for another 3-5 mins to achieve a rich colour crust.

Since these were sliced for the dinner party I do not have a longitudinal crumb photo.