i've steadily continued my self-education in baking and would now like to impose on whatever crowd that might assemble before this weblog a critical assessment, or as best a criticism one can manage on oneself, of my recent breadwork. i want to also interject some corrections on the post from 11.09.10.
one fundamental variable has been altered from the previous recipe. the flour. the recipe meant to express the minimalism inside bread as thus only specified for all purpose flour - but considering this store bought standard is far from the real deal, it's logical to see a less natural product bake up. since i don't crack my own wheat, i basically fortify all purpose flour with other flours, namely rye, whole wheat and vital wheat gluten. the proportions, i have not measured - i'm just going by feel - use very little wheat gluten. i'd suggest no more than a 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten to 4 cups of flour. gluten formation is key to the texture of bread. i can now achieve the airy and soft quality i felt my bread was lacking just a week ago. this addition of the vital wheat gluten also counter acts some adverse affects from the inclusion of rye flour. i've begun mixing in about 20% rye flour to provide some grainy texture and an earthier taste. the whole wheat flour is introduced in about the same proportion as the rye - slightly helps with the dough's texture but mainly helps the taste. if you're concerned with color, white whole wheat flour is common in stores, which also has some diferent tactile qualities than straight up whole wheat. just mix it up sometime.
on the subject of altering taste, several things can be done - this is the chance to influence your own secret ingredients that set your bread apart from all the rest. to first note, i've found sugar to be a maybe/maybenot ingredient. especially with commercial yeast, you have to judge the age and temperature before deciding if sugar is even necessary to assist in the leavening process - if you can argue yourself into a corner on the subject, then forgo the sugar. when using sugar, i've found myself to use only a few pinches or so to every 2 cups of water - this is much less than my previous recipe indicated. want a good substitute? find some good local honey and use just as sparingly. i promote using honey local to your area not only to uphold my anti-corporate agenda but to also support your personal health - the body benefits from local honey with better ability to fight off allergies, which of course are primarily caused by local pollens.
anyway, the main reason i started backing off on the sugar was the sour aftertaste i constantly encountered. it's easy to toss in some salt, but you have to execute some better tact. i've been subtracting about a fifth of the water in my yeast mixture and creating a separate spice/herb mixture. i can't exactly disclose my most successful formulas, not because i want to keep a secret for myself but, honestly, i can't remember what i've done - it's all by the fly. what i can suggest is this: make a solution, mostly water, the total amount of this solution should roughly equal the amount of water taken out of the yeast mixture. the solution should be mostly water but add something to help quickly extract the essesnce of whatever spices or herbs you're using - think olive oil or any type of vinegar. how do you determine what spices or herbs to use? first, randomly experiment - but to become a good judge within spontaneity, try this: midway through your mixing, when the thicker batter develops, try to smell your dough - get yer brain cells firing in a different direction and make a critical guess at one or two qualities of the dough's aroma - think something negative and something positive - what taste do you think is there that you want to keep and what's there that needs correcting. apply your available spicing accordingly in the solution you mixed. i suggest starting with things that are grainy themselves, fennel or anise for example. if you want to include leafy herbs, use them dry and sparingly. the object here is not to make a bread that taste like one herb, you just want to correct the taste ever so zen-like. a pinch or two of salt could be wise, not too much though. whatever spices you've chosen, grind them up somehow - a coffee mill works well, if you want to take pestle to mortar then my hat's off to you - if lacking these tools, try hammering your spices in a plastic bag. once they're ground, mix this into your solution. you may want to run your solution through some cheese cloth if you don't want any big chunks. this solution can be mixed into the dough sometime before the dough really thickens.
after all the mess is done there's gentle dynamics of the oven that come into play. i've begun making larger batches and quickly found that the more loaves in the oven the better - helps the moisture, ya dig - but it gets damn tight in my rent-furnished gas oven. i've been watching the minutes and staggering the start of some loaves' proofing to help oven organization. i constantly move loaves around in the oven, anticipating the end result of the crust and moisture. in this practice i reason that the placement of the oven racks in my oven only accommodates room and not precisely what heat each loaf receives - i once found a loaf nearly rise into the rack above it and had to carefully lift one rack while pulling out the bottom to move it down to the lowest position in the oven - both racks had stones on them. point being, the placement of the racks in a small household oven like mine is not a big deal - just be aware of were the heat is, watch your loaves, and be prepared to move them about. i still don't have a proper oven peel but i've found some approximations. the local grocery conglomerate had a crappy plastic cutting board that can second as a dust pan, i guess - kinda thing that may of once hit the late-night telemarketer circuits - it was like 6 bucks, i thought "what the shit" and forked over the custom - it works alright with flour sprinkled on top - but i quickly kicked my own ass when i realized that a large spatula can sort my button-like loaves with great ease.
previously, the size of the pizza stones i had roughly applied the dimensions of 18-20 some inches. as i'm sure that some sorts can come in a variety of sizes, the specific cheap version (of which i have two) are 15 inches in diameter. this small stone surface in an already small oven can't defeat me - i want to achieve a respectable length in baguette standards. what you see pictured above is 21" long and i may be able to get it longer. parchment paper was used, made taut over the stone with the center heft of the baguette on the stone. the parchment paper's label read it can withstand temperature of 420ºF. i set my oven to 500ºF but the thermometer drops when the loaves are introduced to about 375ºF - i've been hesitant to use parchment paper as your common paper+heat experiences would influence but i've learned what to expect. i suppose a larger metal pan would work better in the respects of baguette baking but i have none.
here are pictures of a beautiful and delicious loaf i recently baked. it peaked at 4 inches and 6 inches wide. i got anal with the slashes and mustered an exacto blade to service. this loaf was given a deep slash, about 1/2 inch. the two other round loves and the baguette pictured above received about 1/4 inch slashes. this loaf had more rise than the others and made a more attractive burst.
next is a crumb shot. you can see where i've achieved a better texture. there's also evidence of my error when folding and shaping the dough as it compresses off-center from the seam. regardless, there wasn't any noticeable change in consistency. overall very soft, could use a bit more to chew on, nice thin but hard crust.
compare that to a loaf featured in my previous post on this subject...
...very different results and again, the biggest adjustment was in the flour but i'm sure my recent use of vinegar could explain some of this success
by kevin walsh, 2010
to assist those having issues with baguette shaping, i'll offer some videos, first is what not to do:
French Baguette Bread Recipe : Cut & Pull Baguette Bread Dough by expertvillage
yeah right - that man can prepare you to bake bread for subway - has no room to call these baguettes - just homemade wunderbread - while browsing to this video, i was listening to fela kuti and didn't catch the audio but there's a rumor amongst the comment crowd that the man in demo refers to "cooking bread". thank you expertvillage, your contribution is noted.
this next video is an expert demonstration in the home. you don't need to understand french to follow this cat, them frenchies are an animated sort. i've replicated his technique of shaping into my baguettes.
Baguette- Pain français by jeromedelamare
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