Using the maximum space in our home oven.
I wanted to post about baking three baguettes at the same time in our home oven and how easy it was to load the doughs onto the baking stone using my DIY dough loader.
Developing the dough went well as did the shaping, proof and moving the dough to the loader. Trouble struck when I scored the dough as my lame was blunt. The lame dragged the dough rather than cutting neatly, resulting in jagged and ugly scoring. My concerns are evident in the baked loaves.
What did go well was the ease of quickly loading the baguettes into the oven, evenly spaced without too much loss of heat or steam. I have successfully maximised the capacity of the oven and baking stone. These baguettes are each 315-gram dough and 36cm long.
The crust was crisp, and I am reasonably happy with the crumb.
Comments
even if inspired by the real thing or the Don/MTloaf do-it-yourself version. A pretty neat trick, while many of us still rely on the reliable parchment paper on the oven peel.
Good looking baggies, if a little too "roasted". However the color of the crust and alveolation of the crumb are both consistent around and throughout, two valuable factors.
If I can make a few suggestions...
Alan
Thank's Alan. I wasn't aware of Don's version; mine is heavily based on albacore’s (Lance) DIY “The Smart Peel” he posted back in 2017. I built this one a few weeks ago and posted about it giving Lance plenty of credit for the inspiration. This the link where you can get a better look at it. DIY dough loading peel | The Fresh Loaf
This is the first time I've baked three baggies using the Smartpeel. My scoring on this occasion was a dismal failure, definitely not up to my usual standard. Thanks for your scoring tips.
Cheers
Gavin.
Gavin that peel is super cool, you should upload a video here of it in use. I'd love to see that.
Benny
Thanks, Benny. A good idea. I just have to get my wife to stand still long enough to help with the video.
Hi, Benny. I made the video today. I posted it on my blog Demonstration of my DIY dough loader | The Fresh Loaf
Cheers,
Gavin
Improvement today. I took 30 minutes off the final proof and backed off the oven temperature partway through the bake. I also extended the steam for 10 minutes.
A new lame blade made scoring easy. Benny, I haven't forgotten the video.
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Is that a stone? It seems to curve upwards in the back.
It's a Miele Baking stone - glazed ceramic. Nice and thick and heavy.
You need to be sitting down when you read the price :) in AU currency.
Miele HBS 60 Gourmet baking stone
I've been considering ordering a chamotte stone from Germany: https://www.ebay.de/itm/121688500758
I have no real need for one (baking steel works just fine), but seeing it's practically free compared to other options, I think I'll just order it now.
Looks like a great deal. Just make sure you give the oven plenty of time to soak the heat into the stone before loading the dough. I give mine about 50 minutes pre-heat.
Cheers,
Gavin
Big improvement Gavin, great ears and grigne now, well done.
Benny
Nice improvement.
Alan