A Cold Retard On Proth5's 65% Baguette Recipe
Sometime ago, dmsnyder posted a recipe and some pics on his blog of a levain based 65% hydration dough for baguettes that I believe was based on a formula from proth5. David mentioned that he was going to try a cold retard on the dough to see how it might add more flavor development.
I might have missed his post on his outcome, but I decided to also give it a try being that I have been doing a lot of over night chills on some of my doughs lately.
I pretty much followed the posted recipe to the letter except that after the final shaping, I did a overnight retard in the fridge in couche.
The formula yielded two 10.25 oz baguettes. The crumb was silky and very light with a nice hint of sweetness. The crust was nutty and not too thick.
I would like to thank proth5 for the initial formula and David for his blog. The sharing of ideas is what a lot of what this forum is all about and it has given me much inspiration in my baking.
Darren
really nice, crust and crumb!
Betty
Hi, Darren.
Your baguettes look really good. It sounds like you enjoyed the results of overnight retardation.
You didn't miss my post because there was none. I did a nose .... errrr ... heel count in my freezer and felt I needed to go into a more intense baguette consumption mode for a while before shifting back into production.
I expect I'll be baking bread again the weekend after next. Maybe some baguettes, even.
David
I would very much like to see your results from this process. I am quite sure they will be excellent.
By the way, I know that where you live you are privy to some much better flour selections. The best I have available here is KA. I used their AP for this formula.
Do you find a significant enough performance difference in yor formulas to justify paying the shipping for some of the more exotic flours available online?
Also, I think you stated that you use malt syrup in your sourdough. Does that make a noticable difference in your crust?
Thanks as always,
Darren
Hi, Darren.
I have used a variety of flours for baguettes, but I don't think you gain much from using "exotic" flours. I do like the results from using some sourdough starter as a preferment and adding a touch (5-10%) rye for flavor. I'd sure like access to French organic T65 just to try it, though.
I use malt syrup for some sourdoughs. It does caramelize the crust beautifully, but it's not critical.
David
Darren, beautiful bread. It so happens that I baked these very same (as per david's blog) today. This is actually the only baguette I bake now, as it represents everything one could ask of a baguette.
I agree that flour does not matter much. I baked mine with unbleached AP - protein content 13.3%, and here are the results.
All the best.
Gosia
Very nice Gosia. Beautiful bread, beautiful arrangement.
Eric
I think that this formula for me represents all the characteristics I look for in a good baguette.
Tomorrow, I am going to try this formula in some one pound bannetons. I will post the results if anybody is interested.
Darren
im interested!!!! anything to do with bread but especially french at the moment!