Baguette crust
Good Morning,
I joined the group about 2 months ago and have been working through some threads that I hoped would answer a question for me. I'm a former chef/corporate manager and have a fairly extensive culinary background. But not baking. I've been working with starters for about 2 years now and I can bake a pretty darn good boule. The right thump, color, and blistering. This past May my wife and I went to France for our 25th wedding anniversary. Baguettes!!! Holy crap! Such simplicity but mastery at the same time. Since we've come bake I've made more than 10 batches trying to replicate what we had over there. I'm at an impasse
I have been using the following recipe from the French YouTube channel "Boulangerie Pas a Pas".
500G T65 flour (I've used multiple combinations of AP and bread flour)
330G water
50G starter
2G dry yeast
9G salt.
It involves a 45-minute autolyze followed by adding the starter, yeast, and salt. Rest for 1 hour and do a fold then refrigerate overnight for a bulk ferment. Standard two-stage folding/forming of the loaves. Dock them and then into a 250C oven with a water tray.
I am getting the crumb I want, more or less and a pretty good flavor. But I am not getting any ears at all and more of a grocery store crust than a real baguette crust. If I have never been there I'd be pretty happy but I'm very, very frustrated with the crusts on my loaves. I'll put those deep slashes into the loaves with the lame and then in the oven they all turn into caterpillars. I've bought a separate thermostat to verify the temperature. I've varied the temperature by 20 degrees. I've tried convection settings.
I would like some advice/direction on how to get that real baguette crust. What am I missing in my steps? I've followed the recipe to the letter, varied it, and come back to the letter. He's getting that crispy, shattering crust. I'm getting Publix's "French bread" crust. I just got some real T65 flour but I'm loath to start messing with it until I can get the essential crust I'm looking for.
Thank you for anything you might have to offer.
Baguettes are hard, all right. It's easy to get close, difficult to get that last 10%.
Don't get too caught up about following a recipe "to the letter". Your flour, kitchen, oven, etc. are all different and you don't have the years of experience in adapting to variations in them all.
My own problem is not the crust but the openness and irregularity of the crumb.
Generally speaking if your scores don't open it's because either the dough doesn't have any oomph left, which probably means it was fermented too long (possibly in the bulk stage). However from your timings that doesn't seem likely to me. You might try using more yeast, though, just in case. Alternatively the crust is setting before the dough can expand enough and force those scores apart.
Steam is the agent for delaying the setting of the crust. You didn't say if you use a baking stone or steel but if you don't, that could be the reason for the scores not opening. What happens, especially in a home oven, is that the steam cools down the both the surface of the bread and also the oven itself, so heat doesn't transfer to the inside as well as you would like. The steel or stone, if very well preheated, will keep pumping heat into the bottom of the loaf and promoting expansion.
You also don't say if you are proofing the loaves in a couche arrangement or not. A couche system lets the surface dry out somewhat and that can promote the crust qualities we want. It will also promote the dramatic opening of the scores.
You could also try leaving the loaves in the turned-off oven for a time after they have been baked.
If you could post some photographs it might be helpful. Use the "Media Browser" button at the top of the TFL editing toolbar to do this. Note that you will have to reduce the file sizes to below 2MB.
TomP
I added a picture for help. I do use a stone and a couche. I followed the recipe exactly the first time but I've since messed around with it say 10% in either way on some things. I can get the color but as you can see no ears. This crust is more chewy than flaky/crispy. My unbaked loaves look just like the ones in all the videos but when they rise in the oven they look like this. Caterpillar loaves are what I call them. The inside just rises up to meet the outside and they become cylinders. I've gone anywhere between 480 to 510 degrees in the oven. Different versions of the same thing every time.
I suggest you try proofing for a shorter time. That should make the slashes rip open more vigorously. If that's not enough then you may need more leavening. It's also possible that you aren't creating enough tension in the surface during shaping. You want to have that surface tension hold back and "suddenly" tear at the flaws - that is, the slashes.
Speaking of slashing, I would try to hold the blade closer to horizontal than to vertical, if you haven't been already. Take a look at this video, starting about the 27:30 mark, and see if it gives you any useful thoughts.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/videos/martin-bakes-at-home/baguettes
I'm not sure about the crust. You could try turning on convection after the first five minutes (or however long it takes the loaves to expand to near their final size). That will dry it out more.
Our North American flour is likely different from T65 available in France. My standard flour is Central Milling (Kirkland) AP. Over time, I’ve reduced my bread flour component to 10%. Pretty sure I could eliminate it completely.
In the last year, in a quest for more open crumb, I’ve toyed with increasing his hydration from 68% to 80% (great crumb but difficult to shape) then 75% and am currently using 72% as my target.
Crust has always been decent, but ears unpredictable. I’ll bake 3 bags and get 1 or 2 with ears and 1 scarred but not really eared. Since I often make epis, doesn’t really bother me all that much. And my French friends generally approve of the results. Suspect it has something to do with the hectic rush into the oven and possibly inconsistent slash depths.
Couple of notes to my process you might want to be aware of.
I always do a cold retard (24-72 hours) after 60-90 minute bulk.
beforeafter slashing.Bonne chance,
Phil
All the above suggestions, but also plenty of steam is essential for baggies. Silivia's famous steaming towels might be worth a try and is the method used by several TFL memebers.
Not as good as direct steam injection, but probably the next best thing.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20162/oven-steaming-my-new-favorite-way
Lance
Your pic looks great. True, no ears, but beautiful color. I'd be happy to picnic with them.
Tom may be onto something with slash angle and shorter proofs. As for getting the crust crunchier, maybe just a few more minutes in the oven. I've been moving to darker bakes for sometime and have never dried out the crumb (as initially feared) to any noticeable degree. 5-10 more minutes in the oven might help you get the desired crunch.
P
The tricky part is getting the crust crunchy and flaky without getting it too thick or brittle. If the crust is basically there, drying it out more in the oven could be all it takes. But not if the crust is too thick or overcooked.