Batard ended with soft crust
I baked the baguette with poolish and sour recipe from this CIA cookbook last weekend:
I've baked essentially the same recipe without the sour dozens of times without any issue, but this time it baked with a very soft crust. I would like to track down what happened for a couple of reasons 1) I would like to avoid it in the future 2) my wife really likes soft crusts so I'd like to know how to intentionally replicate it.
The standard recipe I've had success with is pretty straightforward, ~65% hydration with about 300g overnight poolish and 450g bread flour. This recipe is very similar but uses ~50g starter plus ~250g overnight poolish; it still calls for packaged yeast.
There are two main differences from what I normally do. First, I shaped the loaf into much more of a batard than a baguette. Second, I proofed a little more than I should have, the dough was softer than usual when it went in but I still got adequate oven spring.
Any ideas?
Jason
To get a soft crust, brush melted butter on to the dough before the final rise. After baking the bread cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. For a crisp crust don't do that. Seriously, I'll defer to others for this answer.
Ford
brush with either water or milk when they come out of the oven/.