Baguettes: wet dough?

[sladflob]

Originally Posted by KyleW

I'm happy to see that the frustration level of your baguette quest has not yet surpassed you desire

Your signature line pretty much describes what I'm going through at the moment, though I prefer the word "obsession" to "mental illness"

Shaping is the last chance you have to scew up an otherwise perfect dough. The number of times you roll the dough is not important. What you want to avoid is over working the dough and deflating all those nice air pockets.

Well today was a holiday here which meant another opportunity to bake. I kept your advice in mind and I think I managed to get the wetness level of the dough about right, as it held together nicely when I rolled it and my seam didn't split when it baked. I also invested in a larger baking stone (two rectangular ones, actually, which I can push together) which means I can stretch the rolls without fear of them hanging over the edge. The finished product was quite good - a bit lighter since I was able to stretch more. Tell me, do you mean that I shouldn't push out any of the air which has formed in the dough? I assumed that forming the portions into rectangles would necessarily involve flattening the dough a bit, but maybe I'm wrong?

I had the opportunity to work in a bakery. The scaled dough was preshaped by machine and then hand shaped into baguettes.

There is a Swiss bakery nearby and while I was waiting to buy some bread (back in the days when I bought bread :-) I was watching one of the staff putting dough balls into this machine which emerged as long skinny rolls. Is this the machine you mean? I wasn't aware that there was more stretching to be done after this.

We did this by starting with our hands side by side, in the center of preshaped dough. We gently rolled the dough back and forth while moving our hads out towards the ends.

I think that's pretty much what I'm doing but my rolls ended up a little fatter at the ends, and consequently looked a little dumbell-like. I wasn't too sure how to stretch the ends without further stretching the middle.

I'm also wondering if it's not time to move on from the Artisan recipe that I've been using. While I like it, it does have a rather fermented flavour, and perhaps I'd like to try for something lighter and fluffier. Any suggestions?

james

[KyleW]

"do you mean that I shouldn't push out any of the air which has formed in the dough? I assumed that forming the portions into rectangles would necessarily involve flattening the dough a bit"

Bread baking does not lend it self well to absolutes, such as 'any' You sill lose some of the air that has been retained in the dough. You want to avoid losing all of it. Think of it as the differenec between caressing someone's neck and grabbing them by th throat

"I wasn't aware that there was more stretching to be done after this."

It sounds like a very similar machine. What comes out of it are preshaped blanks or slugs. They are finished by hand.

"I think that's pretty much what I'm doing but my rolls ended up a little fatter at the ends, and consequently looked a little dumbell-like. I wasn't too sure how to stretch the ends without further stretching the middle."

This is really just a matter of repetition. The more you do it the better you will get. Ideally you start out with your hands side by side, parallel to the board and in the center of the dough. Gently roll your hands back and forth while at the same time moving them out towards the end of the dough. Don't worry about trying to get it all done in one pass. Gently making multiple passes is better than one ill fated pass. As your hands approach the ends of the dough, angle your hands slightly so that your thumbs point up and your pinkies point down. This will taper the ends of the baguette.

This is one instance in which excess bench flour can work against you. You need the friction created between the dough and the board to help elongate the dough.

Get your hand's on a copy of Artisan Baking Across America, by Maggie Glezer. In it you will find the formula for Acme Bakery's Rustic Baguette. I've had very good luck with it.

[sladflob]

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for all the advice. Yesterday I made a special effort not to squash the dough too much before rolling, and I definitely got a lighter baguette. Slowly I'm getting more of a feel for this.

I was in the Swiss bakery again yesterday and got to watch the baker shaping the blanks as they came out of the machine. I was impressed at how quickly and effortlessly he grabbed each blank, stretched it, and put it on the baking tray, in one smooth motion. Comparing this to my cumbersome efforts earlier in the day I felt like a real beginner - which is what I am, after all!

I ordered a copy of Maggie Glezer's book, as well as The Village Baker, by Joe Ortiz (save on postage by buying more books - that's how I justified it to myself, anyway :-). I'm looking forward to doing more reading and trying some new recipes.

james