French Bread - help!
Eleanor Belfield & Vernon Bailey
of boiling water placed in the bottom of the oven to produce a steamy
atmosphere. The resultant bread was very doughy and heavy.,... with no
crispy crust at all. Resembled more of a heavy Italian bread... Any
suggestions, tips or help would be very much appreciated! Thanks...
Chris Durkin
They will quicky boil off and give you a nice, steamy oven. You want to
steam the baguettes for the first 10 minutes of baking, so you may want to
throw a couple of more ice cubes in after 5 minutes or so.
"Eleanor Belfield & Vernon Bailey" <bai...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:acsZ4.444$Ym5....@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com...
Alan Zelt
>
> I have been trying to bake French baguettes - and my recipe suggests a bowl
> of boiling water placed in the bottom of the oven to produce a steamy
> atmosphere. The resultant bread was very doughy and heavy.,... with no
> crispy crust at all. Resembled more of a heavy Italian bread... Any
> suggestions, tips or help would be very much appreciated! Thanks...
Let's understand the dynamics of adding water/steam. If added to the
oven during the first few minutes, it will give the dough a big boost
and add to the crust. The "proper" way calls for you to add a roasting
pan to the oven while the oven heats up. Add the dough when temp is
ready. Immediately add one cup(no more) of boiling water(be very careful
that you don't scald yourself). If you have a spray bottle, immediately
spray the walls of the oven(watch out for light bulb) and the dough.
Close the door. In two minutes, open the oven, spray again. Repeat one
more time in another minute. From that point on, the bread will thrive
on dry heat. It will need it to form the deeply colorful crust.
Here is my favorite recipe:
* Exported from MasterCook *
French Bread II (with Pate Fermentee)
Recipe By : Peter Reinhart, Crust and Crumb
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
16 oz Unbleached All-purpose Flour
16 oz Unbleached Bread Flour
1 tsp Malt powder
1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
21 1/2 oz cool water(65-70F)
16 oz pre-fermented dough
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch Ascorbic acid(Zelt's choice as unbleached
flour has no ascorbic acid added)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flours, malt, yeast and
water. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed for 4 minutes,
or until a course dough has formed. Rest the dough for 20 minutes. (the
autolyse)****
Cut the pate fermentee into small pieces. Add the salt, ascorbic acid
and the pate fermente one piece at a time, with the mixer running on low
speed. Mix for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the dough is soft and pliable,
tacky but not stick. Mix in extra flour or water(a few drops at a time)
if necessary to achieve this consistency. The dough is ready when it
passes the window pane test and is between 77 and 80F(neutral to the
touch). If your machine is not big enough to handle a dough this large,
complete the kneading by hand.
Place the dough in a bowl large enough to allow it to double in size.
Mist the dough lightly with a cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic
wrap. Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes. It should just begin to
swell.
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead by
hand for a few seconds.
Cut off 1 pound(16oz) of the dough for a future pate fermentee, if you
desire. Put it in a bowl with a plastic wrap or in a plastic bag and
refrigerate or freeze it.
Shape the remaining dough into a ball and put back in the bowl. Mist the
dough lightly with the cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it
rise for about 90 minutes or until doubled.
Scale, bench and shape the dough into loaves or rolls as desired. Place
them on sheet pans or in baskets. If using pans, line them with
parchment paper and dust with cornmeal or semolina for texture; if using
baskets, mist them with cooking spray and dust them with rice flour or
bread flour to prevent sticking.
Lightly mist the top of the shaped dough with cooking spray to prevent
sticking and enclose the pans or baskets inside a large plastic bag. Let
the dough rise for 15 minutes and then retard overnight in the
refrigerator.
Prepare the oven for hearth baking, making sure to place the empty steam
pan on a lower rack. Preheat the oven to 475F. Make sure your water
sprayer is filled.
Remove the pan of dough from the plastic 15 minutes before baking, to
allow the surface of the dough to dry slightly. Just before baking,
lightly score the bread( as desired) about half an inch deep at a
45degree angle(Before scoring, you may brush the bread with water with a
touch of salt added, or with egg white mixed with water and a touch of
salt). Fill a measuring cup with 8oz of very hot tap water. Put the
loaves or rolls in the oven, either on sheet pans or by peel directly on
the stone. Then pour the hot water into the empty steam pan(EXERCISE
EXTREME CAUTION). Quickly spritz the oven walls and bread, and close
the door.
After 2 minutes, quicly spray the oven walls and the bread again. Repeat
in 1 minute. Then lower the oven temperature to 450F.
Wait 10 minutes and check the bread(check rolls after 5 minutes). Rotate
the bread, front to back, if it seems to be baking uneavenly.
When the bread has developed a rich, golden brown color, about 25
minutes, for loaves, 15 minutes for rolls, turn off the oven (or lower
it to 350F if you plan to bake again). Leave the bread in the oven an
additional 5-10 minutes, until it seems on the verge of overbrowning.
Remove the bread to a cooling rack and allow it to cool thoroughly
before eating: 60-90 minutes for loaves, 20 minutes for rolls. The bread
will taste best if eaten within 2 hours of cooling(Zelt says you can
place thoroughly cooled baguettes in plastic freezer baggies[cut
baguettes in half]. When you want to have one or more halves, place in
nuke for one minute to soften inside lightly. Then place in oven until
crust gets crunchy again.)
****Using a 20 minute rest period when mixing dough with a machine
minimizes mixing time, thus decreasing oxidation. Oxidation, caused by
beating air into the dough, bleaches the flour, nullifying the positive
flavor and aroma of the beta-carotene in the unbleached flour. This rest
period is called the autolyse. While the dough rests, the protein
fragments, glutenin and gliadin, continue to bond into gluten molecules,
giving the dough its necessary structure.
The salt is added after the autolyse to allow the dough to hydrate more
quickly(salt slows down hydration as well as fermentation). the
pre-fermented dough is also added after the autolyse because it is
already mixed and developed. You want it to have only enough additional
mixing to incorporate it fully into the final dough.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serving Ideas : Add pate fermentee(old dough pre-ferment)
NOTES : Using pre-fermented dough allows you to achieve a great loaf
without retarding. There is also the advantage of having a finished
loaf on the same day. However, the long, slow rise of overnight
retarding produces a a more spectacular loaf, richer in color, with a
dramatic blistered crust.
By cutting off one pound of the finished dough, you can still make four
14 oz baguettes, leaving the pre-ferment for the next batch.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Pate Ferment (Old Dough) Pre-Ferment
Recipe By : Peter Reinhart, Crust and Crumb
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
8 oz Unbleached All Purpose Flour
8 oz Unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt(.33oz)
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
10 oz cool water(65-70F)
Combine the flours, salt and yeast in a bowl.
Add the water and stir with a large spoon until the flour is gathered
and dough forms a ball.
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead the
dough vigorously for about 10 minutes, until it is soft and pliable,
tacky but not sticky. Knead in extra flour or water (a few drops at a
time) if necessary to achieve this consistancy. the dough is fully
kneaded when it passes the window pane test and is between 77 and 80F
(neutral to the touch).
Place the dough in a clean bowl large enough to hold it when it has
doubled in bulk. Mist the dough with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with
plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for about 90 minutes. It should
double in size.
Knead the risen dough for 30 seconds, form it into a ball and re-cover
the bowl with plastic.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator and retard the pre-ferment overnight.
It will be ready to use the next day.
Use this dough when making French Bread II (with pate fermentee).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serving Ideas : Use in making French Bread II (w pate fermentee)
NOTES : Adding a portion of old dough to a new batch is a popular way of
combining the straight(direct) and pre-ferment techniques. In this
hybrid method, perfected by Prof. Raymond Calvel in France, the
pre-ferment contains all the basic ingredients of the final dough,
including the salt.
One advantage of this approach is that every time you make bread, you
can hold back a piece of the dough for the next time, eliminating the
need to make a separate pre-ferment. The piece can be kept refrigerated
for up to three days or frozen for up to three months.
The pate ferment is a simplified pain ordinaire dough that adds both
leavening and character to the final dough. Prof. Calval has proven that
it noticeably improves flavor and color and increases the size of the
French bread by 10%.
French T-55 , the classic baguette flour is unlike anything available in
the U.S. I recommend a 50/50 blend of AP flour and bread flour.
--
alan
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