FWSY Field Blend #2 as baguettes (what else?)

~12.5% WW and ~17.5% rye.  A little higher on the second as my levain includes rye.  I like it.  A lot.  It's a good mix for me, but a little too whole grain for the missus.  These clock in at ~78% hydration and the dough is fairly sticky from initial mix through the first letter folds.  But it is delightful just as is, and make for a lovely oven spring without a Dutch Oven.

The pictures are always a bit funny in that the black background and the overhead incandescent task light see to make these dark brown beauties look a little too red.

thanks, alan

for the color.  As I mentioned to dbm above, it seems as though my phone's camera like to make them a little redder than they really are.  But they are indeed a dark brown.  With 30% whole grain it surely helps the exterior to be a little darker.

These baguettes just seem to beg to bloom wide.

thanks Ian, alan

to be served in his restaurant, something to distinguish it from what he sells in his bakery.

I've seen posts by folks who do things like cut off the natural ventilation of their gas stove in order to capture steam, but that seems like a dangerous game to play.  If you haven't yet toyed with the tried and true Sylvia's steaming towel method (search on TFL for it), maybe a triple dose of the towels will provide an abundant enough source of steam for the front end of a bake. I use one towel and also a tray filled with lava rocks and near boiling water to create what dabrownman calls mega-steam.  Might be worth a try with a small bake just to see if you can generate sufficient enough steam.

OTOH they sell what are known as hotel pan covers which are big enough for our demi baguettes and batards to fit under.  Problem is zero visibility and steaming them.  Here's a video of Steve B's, at breadcetera.com, elaborate method of steaming with a hotel pan cover, in which he drilled a hole to inject steam.  

thanks, alan