A surprisingly good loaf

This afternoon I had some starter left over from a refreshment and decided I would make something from my newly acquired BBA. Aha! Poolish baguettes sound good. Until halfway through I realized I had no ww flour. So I substituted the 4oz of spelt flour left from my co-op shopping spree and some rye, spiked with 1 tbsp of vital wheat gluten. I also noticed I was out of instant yeast. Oh well, I used a tsp off of the block of active dry I got at Costco. Then I saw I was out of filtered water (our tap water is unpredictable as far as hardness goes). Oh well, too late to turn back. I had to hand-knead since the bowl to my KA mixer was being used for other purposes. I put the dough in my 8 quart Cambro and left to run errands.

To my delight, it had doubled when I got home an hour later. When hubby asked what I was up to, he was less than delighted with more baguettes (I've been experimenting a lot with them lately). He was hoping for something big enough for sandwiches. So a batard it is.

The dough was really nice to shape, very supple. I used an old pillowcase and some clothespins to approximate a couche and preheated the oven to 450F. The loaf was proofed by the time the oven was hot (the tiles in there take a long time to get hot). I scored it once down the long axis with a serrated knife and baked for 10 minutes on a stone covered by a roasting pan. When I took off the "cloche" I couldn't believe the oven spring-the most of any loaf I've made lately.

After 20 more minutes with a 180 degree turn halfway through, the internal temp was 205F. Now it is cooling on a wire rack in the kitchen, looking very lovely.

Usually I try to follow recipes to the letter since I am relatively new to bread making. Now I wonder, with all I thought I had done wrong, what did I do right?