Best bread scoring lame crack#

The oven with the light on is warm enough for this purpose. If not quite doubled, take it out and let stand in a warm place for 1-2 hours. After 12 hours the dough will have doubled in volume. Cold retardingĬover the bowl with a plastic wrap to prevent the surface from drying out and place in the fridge for 12 hours. If not, I let it sit at room temperature for another 1/2 to 1 hour. If you observe both, then the dough is ready to go in the fridge. Examine the surface of the dough before putting it in the fridge and look for tiny blisters and a slight sour milk smell. At the end of each iteration, I pick up the dough ball and turn it upside down.ĭo this in a warm room to get yeast activity going, otherwise the dough will have a hard time rising in the fridge. In each stretch and fold iteration, pull one side of the dough and fold onto itself. The first step is to mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes, followed by 3 stretches and folds over a period of 1 1/2 hours, about every 30-45 minutes or so. I find that the easiest way to do it is to place the baguettes on a large piece of parchment paper, score then slide on the baking stone. I can use a serrated bread knife to make pretty good scores, but a lame will be much easier for novice bakers.įinally, you will need a large pizza shovel or something similar to load baguettes in the oven. I used to get away without one for a long time but they are so effective and convenient, and in very inexpensive nowadays.Ī bread lame is another tool you will be glad you have. You can also get one cut to your specifications.Īnother piece of equipment that is extremely helpful is the Baker's Couche that you will need for proofing. They are thicker and can withstand spills with aplomb. Even better, go to your local pottery supply store and get a Cordierite kiln shelf.

Best bread scoring lame crack#

It won't crack easily and will promote a much better oven spring for your baguettes. You want a large and, importantly, thick baking stone. The essential pieces of equipment to make a great-tasting baguette are an oven and a baking stone. This is a big no-no for baguette purists, but that little hint of sweetness is what everyone I baked my baguettes for liked. In this recipe, I use King Arthur all-purpose flour, very commonly used for baguette making among home baking enthusiasts, water, yeast, and salt. He also added that baguettes are not fully risen when placed in the oven, it is the wet dough and the very, very hot oven (480F) that make baguettes get the volume. In an interview, Anis mentioned using baguette dough that has 75% hydration (meaning the ratio of water to flour), very little yeast, hardly kneaded, folded three times in one hour then placed in the fridge for 21 hours. This baguette recipe uses baker's yeast and is influenced by the method used by Anis Bouabsa, winner of the 2008 Best Baguette in Paris contest. Thus, how you ferment the dough, how long you retard it, how you proof it, how you shape, score and bake it - all contribute to how the final product looks and tastes. Slowing down the fermentation process, known as cold retarding, results in complex flavor and improved taste. You can make the dough rise very quickly using warm water and warm ambient temperature but it will lack flavor. This is largely due to the process that is employed. Other factors that define a baguette's appearance and tasteĪs was mentioned above, many French baguettes, while using the same ingredients, differ in appearance and taste.

Lately, many bakeries seek efficiencies and switch to using baker's yeast as using natural leavens requires more work. Later it was a mix of natural leaven and baker's yeast, which made the crumb lighter and more open. Up to about a century ago making bread with natural leaven was the rule for bakers in France. What's even more fascinating is how different bakers, using the same ingredients, can make baguettes that differ from each other quite substantially sometimes. It's fascinating how these four simple ingredients produce a beautiful, flavorful, crusty baguette. What French baguettes are made of?Ī traditional French baguette is made of flour, water, yeast and salt. So many factors here that can affect how your baguette will look and taste. Perhaps it's because my bread baking adventure started (many years ago) right after I baked my second loaf of no-knead bread and I lacked the necessary experience. Crusty and beautifully colored on the outside, buttery soft and chewy on the inside, with a tiny bit of butter - it's one of my favorite breakfast foods.īaguettes took me the longest to master. There is nothing like a freshly baked French baguette on a Sunday morning.