lapsed member having problems with tartine baguette dough recipe
Greetings fellow bread bakers. It's been such a long time since I've been on here - I think 7 years ago! Once in a while I browse when I have time to "research" this problem I have been having with Tartine's baguette dough recipe.
I have been quadrupling the recipe to produce 14 loaves larger/wider loaves for sandwiches. This dough gets very big fast, and it's fluffy, or something. Not quite sure how to describe it. Then, by the time I've done the folds at 40 minute intervals like it says, 6 times, and I go to round the doughs, and let them have a short bench rest, then shape them into loaves, they start tearing and after they sit and proof for a VERY short time compared to what it says in the book, they tear and look awful. Baking is such a disappointment when this happens!
So I have tried decreasing the yeast in the poolish by half, and then a little more than half. No success there. I did that because it seems like it's just going way too fast.
Does anyone have any advice on the matter? Is it too much yeast and/or too much leavening? In the winter when it was cooler, it did happen but not as often as it does now. I have air conditioning and it stays nice and cool in the house, so could it be the hot weather?
I can't find any info online of anyone having this problem with this dough. I bake Chad Robertson's Country Loaf- the main one in his Tartine Bread Book all the time and large large quantities - like 16 loaf recipes and I never have problems with the dough and the bread (when oven is cooperating) always is so wonderful and it never gives me problems. But the Baguette dough - yes. I am so frustrated with this because I always have this hope that "this time it will be fine" and then that hope is dashed straight to ... well, you get the idea!
So I have 14 very ugly loaves of bread cooling on the counter, made with the baguette dough recipe from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread.
Dough seems to get big fast, it doesn't fold easily - always tearing and getting way too billowy. That's the word - billowy!
what do you all think?
Thanks for listening!
c
Hi,
Sounds like over proofing to me. You've increased the recipe to make 14 loaves and you say this wasn't a real problem in the winter. Well I don't make such a big batch myself but I have heard that the temperature within a bigger dough is more optimal for yeast growth then a single loaf dough. On top of that it is warmer too.
I'm venturing a guess that this is over fermentation. Perhaps do the dough in two medium batches rather then one large batch. Reduce the yeast a tad more. Bulk ferment till doubled then knock back and shape. With the final proofing aim for 80-85% and not doubled.
Try using some strong bread flour too.
Hope some of these ideas might help.
Baguette dough is higher hydration so will ferment faster then a lower hydration country bread. If over fermentation is the problem then this will be increased with a baguette dough.
Tartine baguette dough is considerably lower hydration than the country bread. I guess I make the country bread at about 85% but in the book the differences are about 77.5% for country and 67.5% for the baguette when accounting for the starters.
By higher hydration (forgive my ignorance), you mean MORE water in relation to flour? And Lower hydration, more FLOUR than water/liquid? Because if that's the case, Robertson's baguette dough is a lower hydration - much stiffer compared to his country loaf. Maybe this thread could be placed in a thread titled Chad Robertson's Tartine recipes?
Over fermenting. I was thinking I should just make one batch to see how it turns out. But has anyone ever dealt specifically with Chad Robertson's Baguette recipe from that Tartine book?
This dough is not nearly as wet as the plain country loaf, which I make all the time and never have problems. But it does have a poolish with yeast, started night before and placed in fridge. That's where I've decreased the yeast by more than half. But it also calls for the starter/levain, which I have NOT decreased.
It's a much stiffer dough, compared to the country loaf which only has the starter for leavening. But by the second or third fold, it becomes quite billowy, and I know by the time a few more folds come, it wills start tearing!
does mean more water relative to flour. For instance, 500 gm of flour with 300 gm of water is 60% hydration, while if you increase the water to 350 gm, it's 70% hydration. So the second dough is higher hydration than the first.
I just ventured a guess that the dough with the issues was higher hydration i.e. more water. But that doesn't seem to be the issue here. We'll keep our thinking caps on :)
Fyi, I am not looking for larger holes, in fact I'm looking for a closer crumb. I'm not making this dough into baguettes, I'm making it into sandwich loaves for our family and I was trying to get a more naturally leavened, simple dough for that. Something without adding eggs and butter and oil and sugar, etc...just something more basic - even a little milk to help with a more tender bite, is ok. You know, something they can eat a proper pb&j on, cuz some of my kids are still little...and my husband likes them too!
His Country Loaf I do make all the time - it's become the adult's staple, here...but I want to go back and start making that desem bread again! The difference is is with the country loaf, it's got the flavor AND texture - it's so wonderful, especially sliced THICK and toasted with butter (and preservers or nutella IF they're close at hand, but not really needed!) The Desem is different, a lower hydration - gotta use more flour to get a proper crumb for that stuff. And not sliced so thick. But toasted, buttered...Oh my! I'm hungry and it's breakfast time!
Sorry to get away from the subject....
so the higher hydration is not an issue.
With a poolish one normally adds yeast into the poolish and little more in the actual dough. How about, if over fermentation is the problem, not adding anymore yeast when forming the dough. The poolish will be enough.
If you are finding that fewer folds are doing the trick then why not stop at fewer folds? Once you feel the dough is ready then just let rest till it's risen enough.
Might just take a little tweak here and there till you find a method which works.