Nice Beginner Bagettes - Thanks TFL!

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Anconas on 27 Feb 2015 at 22:37

Last week it was so cold I spent a lot of time making kefir cheeses and web surfing.  Found a site that used kefir as a sourdough starter so I decided to give it a try.  Followed the starter directions and looked for a recipe online to make a loaf.  Found a blog site that had pictures so I followed it.  I produced two loaves - boules - that had some flavor but the texture was extremely lacking.  I decided to pursue an actual sourdough starter and basic sourdough bread so I hit the library.  I have a culture in progress and needed something to do while it matures.

I thought a great idea would be to actually learn how to make a basic bread :)

In all of my internet research to find information and book suggestions, The Fresh Loaf came up repeatedly.  I camped for a while and started reading.  Baguette type breads are my favorites and I found the Straight Method Beginner Baguettes.

http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/31945/straight-method-baguette-good-starter-baguette-practice%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThis is my experience with this method, my limitations, and my lack of any actual baking experience beyond cookies and muffins.  The potential of creating an edible baguette loaf had me determined to try!  And I even met with a decent level of success, according to my tastebuds :)

 

Objective Notes:

 

Original goal - Sourdough

Interim goal - baguette basics

 

Process Notes:

These are for practice and do not include sourdough.

They include a great deal of information on dough mixing and handling techniques - excellent reference source.

 

Description and video of stretch and fold technique

http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=stretchandfold

 

Video link showing baguette shaping -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdNRogR10nM

 

Technique Link for Bread Scoring and why

http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/31887/scoring-bread-updated-tutorial%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EDiscussion with photos on Covering vs. Steaming the whole oven when baking

http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/16925/covering-vs-steaming%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI have a baking sheet and a lasagna pan that I can turn over to use as a cover

 

Some information on baguette sizes

http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/14863/baguette-size-and-weight%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAdditional Baguette recipe that includes suggestions for measuring very small amounts of yeast - very important!

http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/18813/poolish-baguette-sunflower-seeds%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThis one uses a preferment and sunflower seeds for a deeper flavor.  It also doesn't give details so refer to the recipe in the first link on this page for the times and techniques - "straight method baguette good starter baguette practice" until I get more experience.

 

Notes:

Things I thought I was doing very well -

  1. Handling the very sticky dough - I actually enjoyed it - using a very light touch and watching all the bubbles building in the dough and not popping all of them.  I didn't use any extra flour/oil/water - just used the stickiness of the dough and my homemade dough scraper to lift and stretch, then fold, like in the video above. 
  2. Only flouring the work surface for the final baguette shaping.  In my observation this allowed my dough to become very cohesive to itself after each manipulation and not slide apart due to over flouring which I was concerned with due to lack of experience.

 

Things I knew were seeming off prior to baking

  1. I halved the recipe and had a very difficult time getting my scale to cooperate for a single gram of yeast.
    1. Need to find a volume equivalent
    2. Scale may need new batteries
  1. My dough after folding and resting had much more pronounced surface bubbles than in the tutorial
    1. May have been over proofing due to miscalculated yeast weight
    2. May have been working dough too lightly and not getting the appropriate gluten structure in dough surface
  1. Scoring such a thin and airy loaf is much more difficult than a denser boule
    1. Practice :)
  1. My dough was not split precise in half
    1. Weigh it next time
  1. Size limitations for final baguette shaping
    1. Limited by size of pans for laying on - aluminum air bake sheet and lasagna pan cover
      1. Adjust shape by making shorter, fatter baguettes
      2. Keep eye out for options to make adjustments - not sure on next step here
  1. Temperature limitation to 450 instead of 460 degrees
    1. Parchment paper is rated to 450 only
    2. Research higher rated parchment paper
  1. No baking stone
    1. After the initial 10 minute covered steam bake I removed both pans and baked on parchment paper on the rack so the bottom crust would not be soggy

 

After Baking -

  1. I removed the smaller loaf at the end of the baking time and did not leave it in for the additional 5 minutes with the oven door cracked open
    1. The crust was delicious and wonderfully crispy
  1. I removed the larger loaf after the 5 minutes with the oven door cracked open was over
    1. It sang!!  I actually heard it

 

 

 

Taste Test

WOW!  An incredibly edible loaf and the crispy crunch and caramely goodness of the crust was fantastic.  Interior was not ideal but airy and light, not gummy at all.  Paired wonderfully butter, then with herbed evoo and a feta style kefir cheese with a side of olives.  Dinner was definitely worth the 46 cents of ingredients to try this method and recipe.

Now I just need to figure out how to save the last half for tomorrows breakfast.......and then try it again :)

 

Thanks so much for such a wonderful site full of inspiration and helpful information for even a fledgling baker.

 

Congrats on finding TFL, it's certainly the right place to be if you are a bread head! I'm new here and have learned a ton from the clever and generous folks here in the last few weeks.

I'm mostly focussed on baguettes at the moment and recently made this same recipe so I don't have so much fermenting time between bakes (more practice)!  http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/41816/practice-baguettes-megasteam%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EYours look great! Have a look at the megasteam method and maybe give it a go. I'm going to try again next week and am crossing my fingers that everything will finally click and I'll get the ears I have been pursuing. Thanks for the thorough documentation and links. 

I look forward to your next post!

Best,

-Gabe

PS - 1g of instant dried yeast (IDY) is 1/4 tsp (according to Ken Forkish recipes), but I also recommend getting one of these. Really handy for accurate measuring of yeast and salt.

This is the second bread I have baked, and the only one I got to eat (the first one made good dog biscuits ;-)  so I'm not quite ready for a MegaSteam ride but I love your journey and your results, pretty awesome!

I'm focused on edible bread, the baguettes are gorgeous to me, because they are edible (crusts are quite tasty) and did, in process and in the final finish, represent elements of the original from the lesson/tutorial/method they were made from.  Feels like a great place to start from.

I'll be a bit baguette obsessed for awhile, with quite a bit of company it seems.

Thanks for the gram to tsp and reference source, very helpful for further research.  Yeah, I know my current scale isn't accurate enough....eventually.

master by far.  I think beginners who try to master the hardest first end up being better bakers in the end.  Good luck with your quest.  Mastering that firm yet light touch is hard to get control of with slashing the next hardest,  The touch part is hard to describe but the slashing isn't

Next time before you score, look down on the top of the baguette and divide the top mentally into 3rds down the length of the dough.  Try to keep the slashes running down the length of the loaf in the center, middle 3rd only.  Overlap the scores by 30%.  If that isnlt enough, while doing that, make sure that the blade is cranked over to 30% off the surface of the baguette.   Do not hold it vertical and only cut 1/4 inch deep.   A low angle, shallow cut is what gives you ears and keeping the scoring overlapping and running down the length of the dough, rather than across it, is what gives you that beautiful blooming pattern.

Look forward to your future posts documenting your progress and good luck with the SD starter too.

Happy baking 

you didn't have to scare me lol.  Seriously, I'd rather focus on what I actually want to achieve, than achieve a lot of what I didn't actually want.  Every step in improving the baguettes is what I consider fun, so I'll keep at it even if it is considered difficult.

Your tip on changing viewpoint and perspective when doing the scoring cuts is very helpful!  I got the hint of what was supposed to have occurred with the 2 cuts on one end of the larger baguette - it did start to open a little and the crumb was much better in that section compared to the others.  Those were the last two cuts I made and I had started to feel slightly less like I was performing a hack dissection of the poor loaf. 

The touch thing that brings the elasticity and extensibility (lingo practice) desired in this bread is indeed interesting.  I did some practice with the french slap and flip technique and got a much better understanding of gluten development that I could watch occur in my hands - from gentle to working it to death.  I think I have a better concept of the nudge I need to give to my baguette dough, at least enough of a concept to put something to practice in the next batch.

Thanks for the encouragement.  The SD starter is still healthy with steady increase in vigor, shows promise.  A long way from Kamut, but promise :)

That's exactly the link I needed!  Funny how searching for the wrong terms consistently yielded the wrong result :)

And yes, the tenths of a gram scale is in my wishlist. 

Thanks Alan!