Txfarmer’s baguettes
A few weeks ago I accidentally got into baguettes. I liked the sound of alfanso’s baguettes with durum flour, fennel, pine nuts, and golden raisins, so I attempted them. They came out ok but I wanted to see whether I could improve my technique.
I read over some tips from the baguette community bake and made a couple batches. The appearance improved with practice and I thought they looked nice (by my not-too-exacting standards)…but I did not like eating them. I found them bland, perhaps because I was not using a fancy French flour and was too used to the tang of sourdough.
So I tried Txfarmer’s favorite baguettes with 30% whole grain. There’s no commercial yeast to fall back on and the high hydration makes them difficult to shape and score. They’re not as pretty as my other baguettes. But I like them much more. I’m still not sure I’m a baguette person (hard to beat a hearty rye in my book), but I wouldn’t mind making these regularly.
Link to Txfarmer’s baguettes:
Comments
They look great, you should be proud of them Econprof. Are you much happier with their flavour?
Benny
I think the flavor is much improved, even though the dark rye plus whole wheat only adds up to 30%. Most of my family members prefer breads with at least some whole grain (for taste reasons as well as health), so I think they will be happier too.
These look great! I’ve yet to step into the baguette arena. Keep telling myself I will, but I never get to it. This bake is another nudge in that direction. Thanks for posting!
TXfarmer is a tough act to follow but you did well with it. The shaping and scoring looks good and the crumb is great given the amount of whole grain. I was wondering how you baked them and how you generated the steam.
It sounds like you are struggling to find the appeal of baguettes coming from rye bread and sourdough to baguettes. It is not like the trade off between guns and butter to use the parlance of economics. You have to go full butter. I am one of the bakers who touted the traits of the Imported T65 flour to fully appreciate what a good baguette can be. Baguettes to me are defined by more than their cylindrical shape. The traditional aspects of a thin crisp crust around an open light crumb are more important than its baton shape. I like ciabatta for the same reason but the visuals do not compare. I don’t think you can get to the ideal version with any whole grain included in the mix and SD may give you the tang but it will not give you a crust that is thin and crispy like the yeasted version. A good oven setup is an important part of that equation as well. The fancy French flour does make a better product (confirmed by the flavor of the burnt ends that I never understood before) but you can get very close with a quality organic AP flour like KA or Guistos 00. I have also had good luck with a Wheat Montana AP.
Welcome to the Baguette Brigade and that is one cute pup for your avatar!
Don
Tx farmer pics always have amazing crumb. You are getting the baguette bug so beware !