hearth style bread

[William Allen]

hello bakers! i am new to this forum and this is my first posting. so here goes.
i have extensive professional baking experience and still love to bake at home. while im still on this side of the grass i have tried numerous times to produce a baguette with that crackly crust, chewy crumb and those irregular holes throughout. so far no success. i end up with a nice tight/even grained loaf. am i chasing my tail???

 

[Norcalbaker59]

hello bakers! i am new to this forum and this is my first posting. so here goes.
i have extensive professional baking experience and still love to bake at home. while im still on this side of the grass i have tried numerous times to produce a baguette with that crackly crust, chewy crumb and those irregular holes throughout. so far no success. i end up with a nice tight/even grained loaf. am i chasing my tail???

Hello welcome to the forum.

yes it is possible to make a good baguette at home. But it takes a lot of practice. I would recommend that you start with the recipe on King Arthur flour’s website.

I don’t think King Arthur’ recipe works to a DDT. As a retired Baker you know the importance of DDT. For baguettes it’s 75°F.

you’re a Baking surface is also important. I use a Baking steel

 

[William Allen]

thank you for your reply. i am looking for the affect i see in your photo. so nothing about the degree of gluten development or tightness if the dough? i will try the ka formula. thanks again. i will let you (???) know how it turns out.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

thank you for your reply. i am looking for the affect i see in your photo. so nothing about the degree of gluten development or tightness if the dough? i will try the ka formula. thanks again. i will let you (???) know how it turns out.

Baguettes are very difficult. It does take practice. yes the gluten development is important. Your flor is important. Start with the KA recipe and master it. I don’t use their flours or their recipe for my baguettes. But the head of their education department is a master baker by the name of Jeffrey Hamelman.

I’ve had a lot of professional training. And I’ve had professional training specific to baguettes with a master baker who won gold in Paris for baguettes. That baker holds Hammelman in high regards. Enough that the only cookbook that he would recommend on bread is Hamelman's book.

So start with KA. As you learn more you’ll start branching out. Then go over to a forum that is specific to bread called
The Fresh Loaf. There’s a lot of good bakers over there that do baguettes.