March 28, 2015 - 1:20pm
My current attempt at baguettes
Hello everyone,
Today I am making my second attempt at homemade baguettes, this time with a poolish. I will let you know how they turn out. I made a batch a few days ago without the poolish, and they were pretty tasty. The only thing I am not liking about the recipes I have used thus far is the dough seems to be awfully slack. I don't remember the dough being this loose in my previous culinary training. Of course then again, I don't believe we ever used a poolish. Oh, I should mention I am using Jeffrey Hamelman's book and so far I am loving it. I love his attention to detail.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and let you know about my latest bready endeavor. I will hopefully post pictures soon.
Beth
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Patience is the key. I use King Arthur Bread Flour at about 64 % hydration, but I have used higher hydration. If the dough is slack, just lightly dust with flour when shaping, and do not try to work the flour into the dough, just dust the surface.
Ford
Hello! Hoping your baguette adventure is going well!
ONE TIP I have seen works well with making it with poolish, is having it cool off in the fridge overnight before baking :-)
for commercial yeast baguettes is 67%. It is only the recent baguette fanatics like us that have taken the hydration to the moon:-)
Happy Baguette baking
Hi, I've been trying to make baguettes myself and seeing the replies here I'm thinking that my main problem is probably hydration. Is 67% hidration recommended for bread or all purpose flour? I have a batch of dough retarding in the fridge, it's 67% hidration with all purpose flour (it is not labelled as such but it says 11% protein on the package), with only sourdough starter. I intended to bake it today, but it became too goopy after mixing so I decided to retard it to see if I can shape them tomorrow.
is 67-68% hydration but here is their poolish one at 70.5% hydration using their AP flour.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/baguette-pan-baguettes-recipe
You have to remember KA's AP flour has a much higher protein than AP 10-11% bought at the store,
I have also been bitten by the baguette bug. I'm currently working at 70-75% hydration with a poolish. I am still fiddling with all the variables, but I do strongly recommend letting the bulk ferment happen overnight with some fridge time. I have let it ferment at room temp for 2 hours, then pop in the fridge. The second thing I've learned is that you have to use *minimal* handling. Do not de-gas the dough after bulk. Use a VERY light hand in shaping. But I still have a long way to go...
It is a matter of taste and opinion whether or not to chill the poolish over-night in the fridge. Some authors like Peter Reinhart say to chill over-night after a 3 hr ferment on the counter. Rose Levy Beranbaum , on the other hand, says a poolish is ALWAYS fermented on the counter. I favor Ms. Beranbaum´s idea because it gives me the flavor I want, a faintly sweet taste. As you may know it all depends upon how much yeast you use in the poolish. Beranbaum says, Pour 1/4 cup of water into a small bowl, add 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast. Let set for a minute. Stir well. Now use a tiny fraction of the yeasted water in your poolish. Example: My poolish : 20 gram of whole wheat flour, 80 gram of unbleached A.P. flour.100 gram of water and only one tsp of the yeasted water. Yes, you read it right. 1 tsp of the yeasted water. Cover with plastic wrap with a slight vent. Ferment on the counter for 14 hours. It should now have doubled and smell strongly of alcohol. (which is where much of the flavor comes from). The top should be covered with hundreds of tiny bubbles. AND if you used a clear container you should see inside thousands of bubbles. IMPORTANT NOTE : It all depends upon the room temp. my kitchen, right now is about 63 F a hotter kitchen would yield a finished ripe poolish much faster. If your area is quite warm then you would need to LESSEN the amount of yeast. Temp and wetness and time determine what kinds of bacteria you will produce. Homofermentive or Heterofermentive bacteria. Since I like a faint sweetness I go for homofermentive bacteria. However, you may prefer a more sour flavor (no not sourdough) so you could put in fridge overnight. Please note we are NOT talking about a HUGE difference in flavor. It´s a subtle difference. Play, have fun. It only cost a few pennys. Test your poolish before making your dough. That way you learn and you can predict exact outcomes. good luck.
Oops, sorry. I was looking in the wrong list on Poolish times vs. temps. Anyway, I should have said 2 tsps of the YEASTED water (which works for an avg temp of 64 F @14 hrs.) The 1 tsp measurement was for 85 F