Well, mostly.
Baguettes are something I rarely make because the form factor doesn’t fit my usual bread needs. However, my wife needs some for a lunch / book club meeting she has on Monday so here we are.
Because of time constraints, I elected to speed up the poolish by using half a teaspoon of active dry yeast instead of the 1/8 teaspoon quantity in the recipe (I used the Home quantities). As anticipated, that cut the poolish time from the formula's 12-16 hours to about 3.5 hours. All other quantities and timings were per the formula. My only other deviation was to hand mix and knead the dough, instead of employing my mixer.
Everything else followed as expected, which is one of the things I appreciate about Hamelman's formulae—they work reliably.
My lack of practice with baguettes shows up in the finished product. Scoring this time around is the most noticeable defect. Since I’m feeling generous, I’ll give it a C- grade. The crumb is bready, rather than open, since the scores didn’t open widely. In this specific case, that turns out to be an advantage since the baguettes will be sliced and used as a base for pimento cheese.
Edit: photo added.
Paul
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I have adapted my baguette formula to be a Poolish plus levain bake next time. The semolina bread I posted ( erased later) made me so impressed with the results of using a Poolish that I’m going to try it.
I never use my mixer anymore for bread. I hope the group enjoys their sandwiches. 👍c
Hi Paul,
They look very good in my opinion; nicely scored and baked. I try to make baguettes every few months to keep in practise. Hamelman’s baguettes with poolish are my go-to that I keep coming back to. I love the flavour and always get kind remarks from our family and friends when I turn up with them. A winner!