Comments on: A Tale of Three Baguettes

By: john

john — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:45:36 +0000

I’ve been making baguettes daily for the past year and have settled into a couple of additions to KAF’s basic recipe: substitute 2oz of whole wheat and add 3 Tblsp of diastolic malt powder. Keep the dough very wet and don’t overmix (as per this original post). The flavor is to die for… although they’re not ‘official’ French baguettes. French law dictates that baguettes contain water, flour, yeast and salt. Not a speck of cornmeal (for the peel or stone), not an ounce of anything else…. If you’re entering a visual contest, dust ‘em with flower, slash them crosswise and bake ‘em hot. They will come out chestnut brown and stunningly beautiful.

By: Lien

Lien — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:57:20 +0000

wow I think they all look great! Great tips and insight in the world of baguettes THanks!

By: Noel Labat-Comess

Noel Labat-Comess — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:26:58 +0000

I would have left nothing of the left. A beautiful baguette in every way. one you can taste just by looking at it.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:36:00 +0000

This is so cool!! While I am one handed (stupid accident with a paring knife) my husband has been making bread. He was very enthusiastic about kneading though and he resulting bread was somewhat dull. We just tasted his most recent loaves using the knead less and fold more technique. Wow. What a difference. The bread is fabulous.

Thank you, Susan!!

By: David Aplin

David Aplin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:00:55 +0000

Susan, A most excellent, timely post. I have had my travails with making baguettes. A $10,000.00 loading conveyor and a $50,000.00 steam injected deck oven always helps… but… a poor workman always blames his tools…ya don’t go out to sea in a canoe. If my “successes” looked like your “failures” I’d have it made.
From the ashes grow the roses of success.
Best, David

By: Stefanie

Stefanie — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:55:37 +0000

What a great comparison. I read about it in “advanced bread and pastry” but doing somethinig is always more impressiv then reading! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

By: mlaiuppa

mlaiuppa — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:20:30 +0000

Any way we can get a taste to compare?

Man, sometimes the limits of the internet are hard to live with.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:57:25 +0000

Wow, fascinating!! Thank you so much, Susan, for sharing all this. I love love love the chart.
I have a question, though. Do you think that medium gluten development is the best compromise for both volume and flavor, or would you go with minimal development for maximum flavor? Another question: What would happen with medium gluten development but longer bulk fermentation and more folds (a combination of the first and second approach)? I think the center loaf looks the nicest, and wouldn’t the flavor improve with more fermentation and maybe greater hydration?

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:52:21 +0000

Excellent chart, Susan!!

I’m very jealous of your scoring technique!! (I can’t count past 4 so I didn’t notice the difference in numbers of slashes until you pointed it out.) If you get a chance, I hope you’ll spell that out as well.

By: Aparna

Aparna — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:32:10 +0000

Haven’t been here in a while, but when I get back I see beautiful baguettes. These are my Waterloo!
An extra score make a difference, Susan? I’m not an expert so I say all 3 look pretty good to me though I can see the monir differences you pointed out now.