Things you can do with poolish

Yesterday I was struck with the urge to make a poolish, and mixed up 50% KAF AP with 50% high extraction spelt, water, and a little instant yeast. It burbled away for a good 13, 14 hours, and then became fodder for two different doughs.

I followed Hamelman's Ciabatta with Wheat Germ and Olive Oil pretty exactly, and turned it into a small ciabatta and a little foccacia. Since I hadn't yet gotten the chance to try focaccia with grapes and fennel, I took this chance to do so. The crumb came out well enough, and the flavor combination was nice, but not a new favorite.

The focaccia was simply baked on a pan in a 460F oven, while the ciabatta got the dutch oven treatment, starting at 500F and dropping down to 460F after about five minutes. The crumb has yet to be revealed, but it looks like it probably came out okay. I bet it'll make a great roasted eggplant sandwich.

The rest of the poolish was turned into baguette dough, again following Hamelman, but subbing in 10% high extraction wheat and increasing the hydration slightly.

Not pleased with the baguette bake, but the results were edible. One of the two loaves is mostly gone.

I thought I had overproofed them, but if I did, it wasn't by much. Then they stuck to the makeshift peel I was using to transfer them to the actual peel.

Because they were so soft, I had trouble getting the scores right; mostly, not nearly deep enough. You can see where the baguette tried to tear itself apart a little.

I also clearly did not mutter the right incantations or leave enough milk out for the fairies, because Sylvia's Magic Towels did not produce the water vapor of my dreams. The crust is still pale from it's light coating of couche flour, soft and not crackly or shiny at all.

The crumb was fairly nice, though not amazing. The remaining little guy will get dissected later this weekend, assessed for crumb quality, and probably become delicious garlic bread.