Baby Steps … to Bread

Lead in…

Since the day my wife mentioned that she really liked Baguette’s, I’ve been on a silent quest to learn as much as possible about them and over time I’ve procured a few tools to help:

• Emile Henry Clay Covered Baguette Baker

• USA PAN Baguette Baking Pan

• Breadtopia Baker’s Couche

Recipe (‘s)

Well, I didn’t use just one process or one recipe. I watched five or six YouTube videos. I also referred to the complement of instructional videos on the King Arthur website. If you pinned me down, I would call it a tie between the Guten Morgen YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zByiIB346o), and the King Arthur training video hosted by Martin (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/videos/bakery-worthy-baguettes). Both very good ,but Gluten Morgen’s approach was more to my newbie liking. I tried to merge the process and recipe’s from each host so I’m not capable of relaying a step-by-step process. I will certainly go back to the King Arthur videos to hopefully improve my outcome using the more formal techniques. You can learn a LOT by watching these videos.

So what about this bake?

In summary, it was very easy to mix the dough. Yet, forming a 13-inch roll that would fit my Baking Pan was very difficult for me. They say you can spend a lifetime trying for the perfect Baguette, and that didn’t make sense until trying it. In the end, the Baguette’s looked fine. They tasted amazing. Nonetheless, any real baker would see right through that. They would ask about the crumb and the crust.

My crust came out a little thicker and desired, and somewhat soft and stretchy. I know that next time I should probably bake for a little longer. I also will try a “00” Pizza Flour as shown in the Gluten Morgen video. And my crumb was open, but nowhere close to the crumb generated by the pro’s. I’m not sure if this is related to the hydration, or the flour, or to my shaping technique. I tried to not off-gas the dough in the final stages, but you just never know.

The Baking Pan

I purchased this Baguette Baker from Emile Henry during a Black Friday sale. It was about thirty percent off, but still on the expensive side. I decided this was my one Christmas gift to myself. I bought it after the holiday to get the sale price. In most of the online video’s they open bake Baguette’s in a professional steam-oven using the open-bake method. That’s well and good. Still, I only have a gas-oven full of vents. It’s difficult to keep the steam inside. With the lid covering this pan, the moisture stays trapped in each Baguette. This leads to a really nice oven-spring. I used a little Baking Oil. Then I applied a light covering of Rice Flower. I had no problems with the Baguette’s sticking.

Final Outcome

Really, really good! I finished baking about two-hours before cooking some steaks and shrimp on the grill. I also served our family a Baguette, which they enjoyed. The dough tasted really good, and the crust, although somewhat soft, was even better. In fact, I prefer a soft crust. I often wrap my sourdough bakes in a Tea Towel to help keep the crust on the softer side.

Conclusion

Give it a try!! One way or another you’ll end up with really tasty bread. I’ll update this post once I try the metal pan for Baguette’s. I have to think that will yield a crustier crust, but we’ll see.