Quest for large holes in French bread
I have been working toward getting a better French bread. My current goal is gaining larger holes in the crunb. When I say larger, I mean many the size of a cherry pit and a few the size of a whole cherry. I followed MiniOven´s suggestions about drastically reducing the lenght of the bulk ferment and it did help. Not as much as I´d like but a step in the right direction.
Current loaf: Total hydration = 72 %
Poolish: 80 gm of unbleached A.P. flour , 20 gm of W.W. flour , I/32 tsp instant yeast. 100 gm of water. Stir only until evenly wet. Cover and ferment at room temp (75 F) for 12-14 hrs. Poolish has risen 2 and 1/2 times in volume.
Dough: 104 gm A.P. flour , 3/8 tsp instant yeast, 3/4 tsp salt (mix well) add 46 gm water and all of the poolish.Knead by hand 2 min, rest 10 min, Knead 6 min by hand (no flour added ) ,r4est 15 min and do a series of gentle stretch and folds. Rest 15 min. If dough looks too slack ie flows slowly, I do another series of stretch and folds.
Now, at this point there is a VERY wide difference of opinion. Peter Reinhart in The Bread Baker´s Apprentice says on P 136 (side bar ) it is during the stretching and foldingthat the gluten has a chance to strenghen, resulting in the large holes so distinctive and prized in this bread" Note: this is AFTER 5-7 of machine or hand kneading to create a smooth silky dough. And Then he ferments for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. Daniel T. DiMuzio and Rose Levy Beranbaum both say pretty much the same thing. I don´t have the experience or knowledge to say who is right I´m merely pointing out a difference of ideas
I have received advice on Fresh Loaf that says kneading to the point of passing a window-pane test is counter productive to obtaining a wildly open crumb. Please don´t get me wrong ! I´m NOT saying anybady is wrong. It´s just that I don´t know.
Back to dough. A very short bulk ferment 30-45 min. A VERY gentle shaping preserving maximum bubbles.. Proof for 45 min in a baguette pan 16" long. Total weight of dough is now 350 gm. Meantime , preheat oven to 475 F with a heavy pan on the floor of the oven. When loaf has puffed up (But not as much I I normally would) I slash the loaf, mist it heavily, pour 3/4 of boiling water into steam pan, IMMEDIATELY put loaf on middle rack close the door and turn temp down to 425 F (note: I did not use a stone) Bake 11 min, rotate loaf for an even bake. (Steam and water all gone now) Bake another 11 min. Cool on a wire rack. Result: Crust is a deep golden color, edges of slashes very very dark. Crust is thin and crackly after cooling. Taste is Good but not as deep a flavor as a longer bulk ferment. The elusive holes are a tad bigger, (as big as a kernel of corn) BUT no very large hole thet I want.
I have the feeling that I´m closer but that I need to "tweek" things a bit. Any suggestions ? Thank you ever so much
I'd say the bulk fermantation is too short. You could try to lower the amount of yeast and have a longer bulk.
That's what i'd try, anyway.
You need a baking stone. Or you can go to a hardware store and get unglazed quarry tiles that are food-safe and resistant to high heat. The dough needs to come into contact with a hot solid surface in order to create large bubbles. You can still use a baguette pan, but I think you need to set the pan on top of a well preheated baking stone.
I watched baking shows. I always noticed that breads baked on top of a baking stone or some kind of stone floor oven have large holes. I also notice that naan breads have huge air bubbles because they come into contact with the extremely hot solid surface of a tandoor.
Both comments above are correct but you also might want to increase your hydration. The higher the water content the better chance you will get a more open crumb, but the other steps are important as well.
Thank you for your posts. Ok, I´ll go and get a stone and use it and see what happens. As for a higher hydration than 72 % ; I am somewhat reluctant to go any higher as my skill level is not up to that stage where I can handle a hydration level aproaching a ciabatta when kneading ny hand.
I forgot about the post re less yeast/longer hydration. Yes, by all means I´l try that as well. Thanks Malio
You can also try lower protein flour.
I use French T65 flour with ~9.5% protein and a hydration of ~62-64% for my breads. I tried different mixing times as well as different bulk ferment times, I found the mixing times did not make any difference, nor did the bulk ferment time. Rather, the overall ferment + proofing time did make a difference. The bread in the photo was mixed on med-high speed in my stand mixer for a good 10 minutes, bulk fermented for about 7h at room temperature (24-26C), then stretched and folded a couple of times and shaped into a boule. The final proof was about 1h30-2h, I forget exactly. I have to thank everyone who posted in my threads though, who told me that my proofing times were too long in the beginning, leading to not so desirable results. This is a sourdough bread, not commercial yeast, I have greater difficulty getting such open crumb with commercial yeast.
For steam I use the steambreadmaker.com setup i.e. an overturned aluminium pan with a handheld steam cleaner.