This post is long overdue. Done this like 2 weeks ago, but only manage to blog now.
Tried 2 versions of baguettes, baked on perforated baguette pan which I bought from amazon.com. I think the pan gave it a better shape than baking on baking tray.
The first one is a baguette recipe using a poolish, when I put them in the oven, I added some ice-cubes into a tray that was already preheating in the oven. Which had some steam in the beginning, but I think I threw in a little too much that the steam didn't last and had to wait for the cubes to melt n boil to form steam. Here's the recipe, its taken from "BREAD; A baker's book of techniques and recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman":
Baguettes with poolish
Poolish:
300g Bread flour
300g Water
1/8 tsp Instant dry yeast
Final dough:
607g Bread flour
300g Water
17g Salt
4g Instant dry yeast
600g Poolish (all of the above poolish)
Just mix the ingredients of the poolish together and let it rest at room temperature for 12 hours. then mix it in together with the rest of the ingredients in the final dough. Bulk fermentation of 2 hours with 1 folding inbetween, then divide and preshape lightly and let it rest for another 20 minutes before final shaping. After final shaping, final frementation of one to one and a half hours. Bake with steam at 237 degrees C for 24 to 26 minutes depending on weight of each dough.
Then I tried another recipe with Pate Fermentee. I just kept aside some of the dough from the above recipe in the fridge and made it the next day. Pate Fermentee cannot be kept in the fridge for more than 48 hours, best to used the next day. Or you can make the pate fermentee if you don't have old dough.
Here's the recipe, from the same book:
Pate Fermentee:
227g Bread flour
150g Water
5g Salt
1/8 tsp Instant dry yeast
Final dough:
680g Bread flour
448g Water
11g Salt
1 1/4 tsp Instant dry yeast
383g Pate Fermentee (all of the above Pate Fermentee)
Same with the Poolish, your can make the Pate Fermentee and let is rest at room temperature for 12 hours before using, or you can use any old dough you have from the previous day.
The difference in this recipe is that you mix the final dough ingredients first, after its incorporated, add in the pate fermentee in chunks. Bulk fermentation and final fermentation is the same as the poolish.
When I did this version, I used boiling water instead of ice-cubes. This achieved a continuous steam production. The result was a more light baguette and I preferred the taste of the one with the pate fermentee.
Here are some pictures:
Baguettes with Poolish
Baguettes with Pate Fermentee
Left: Poolish; Right: Pate Fermentee
Next recipe in the book: Ciabatta.
