30% Semolina Baguettes
I've tried making a single baguette a few different times. Each time was a different recipe and each time it was a last minute "Let's throw this together and make a baguette" approach. Got really lucky the first time with nice spring and an open crumb. Told myself that baguettes were easy. The next couple of tries had no spring at all and turned out dense enough to be used as dowel rods. This is the first time I went into it with a plan. I based the approach off Boubasa's recipe, but I used a flour blend that I had recent success with on a regular yeasted loaf that contains 30% semolina.
I used a small preferment (7.5%), a small amount of yeast in the overall formula (0.15%) with a 24 hour cold bulk after gluten development, and 72% hydration. Due to timing, I did a relatively short preferment (4 hours) by using more yeast than I typically would. The semolina was re-milled using my Mock Mill and given a 1 hour autolyse prior to mixing. For the next bake, I will go bake to the 12 hour poolish fermentation to help with flavor development. Baked on stone that was preheated to 490 deg F with steam for 12 minutes and then at 450 deg F with convection for 10 minutes.
Happy with the crumb, Soft and moist and the flavor was not too bad. I will increase the ferment time on the poolish next time. Jury is still out on the crust. Good flavor but quite chewy. I've never had a baguette before, so I'm not really sure what the target is for the bread. Is a baguette crust typically really chewy? How do you store your baguettes after they're baked?