Baguette Experiment in UK

When I was in the UK last week, I made David's excellent recipe below.  As I have done many times in the past, I prepared the dough and froze half of it to bake later.  I hadn't tried this with baguettes, so I was interested in how it would turn out.  I froze the dough for four days. On the first batch, I had a heck of a time moving them, as I didn't have all the tools I have in my home kitchen.  They got a bit flat as I moved them. For the second batch, I bought a metal baguette baker with tiny holes that I used for the final proof and baking, and this worked much better for me.

I defrosted the dough overnight in the fridge, and it was ready to go the next morning.  I followed the recipe instructions from there, placing the new baguette baker on a heated stone.

My husband really enjoyed these baguettes, as did our UK friends who tried them.  The taste was wonderful and the crumb fine. My husband loved the really crusty crust.

San Joaquin Sourdough Baguettes

9.2% of the flour is pre-fermented

Method

1. Mix the levain by dissolving the liquid starter in the water, then add the flours and mix well. Ferment at room temperature, covered tightly, until the surface is bubbly and wrinkled. (8-12 hours)
2. Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flours and mix to a shaggy mass. Cover and autolyse for 30 minutes.
3. Add the salt and mix to incorporate.
4. Transfer to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly.
5. Bulk ferment for 3-4 hours with stretch and folds in the bowl every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours, then a stretch and fold on the board after 2.5 hours. The dough should have expanded by about 50% and be full of small bubbles.
6. Refrigerate the dough for 18-24 hours.
7. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and transfer it to a lightly floured board.
8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and pre-shape as logs or round.
9. Cover the pieces and allow them to rest for 60 minutes.
10. Shape as baguettes and proof for 45 minutes, covered.
11. Pre-heat the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
12. Transfer the baguettes to your peel. Turn down the oven to 480ºF. Score the loaves and load them onto your baking stone.
13. Bake with steam for 10 minutes, then remove your steaming apparatus and continue to bake for another 10-12 minutes. (Note: After 10 minutes, I switched my oven to convection bake and turned the temperature down to 455ºF.)
14. Remove the loaves to a cooling rack, and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.