Baguettes on a baguette pan--the rising and transfer

[Fred]

Do you use a baguette baking pan? If so, this question is for you. Once you have formed your baguettes, do you let them rise on the nonstick baguette pan on which you'll bake them or do you first let them rise in a couche or in some other way and then transfer them to the pan for baking?

I keep trying to make a decent baguette and have never made a truly good one yet. They don't hold their shape all that well and I never before used a couche or a baguette pan. I recently purchased the pan and want to try it out. Just not sure whether to let it rise on the pan or to transfer the bread to the pan after its rise.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Do you use a baguette baking pan? If so, this question is for you. Once you have formed your baguettes, do you let them rise on the nonstick baguette pan on which you'll bake them or do you first let them rise in a couche or in some other way and then transfer them to the pan for baking?

I keep trying to make a decent baguette and have never made a truly good one yet. They don't hold their shape all that well and I never before used a couche or a baguette pan. I recently purchased the pan and want to try it out. Just not sure whether to let it rise on the pan or to transfer the bread to the pan after its rise.

Proof on couche. Bakers use a baguette board to transfer to baking surface. if you’re going to make baguettes you really need a baguette board. And yes they are used in a commercial bakery, it’s not something home bakers gerryrigged.


I can’t imagine the surface of a pan gets hot enough. Plus it’s so narrow you can’t place the loaf down properly.


Use a baking stone or baking steel.


Get either Jeffrey Hamelman’s book Bread or use King Arthur Flour’s baguette recipe. Hamelman is the education director for King Arthur so essentially it’s his recipe. Hamelman is one of just a few actual master bakers in this country. Highly regarded as bread baker.



This is a baguette board. Mine is a bit longer. But this will work or anything similar.



https://breadtopia.com/store/baguette-flipping-board/

 

[Fred]

Excellent answer. Thank you. Until recently I thought you should mix the dough firmly enough to hold the baguette shape without anything reinforcing the sides. And I did proof and bake on a newly purchased baguette pan yesterday. Those three small loaves turned out better than anything I had made up till now but still didn't quite have the crust I wanted, and they are very narrow loaves. I have a couche on order. I used the recipe and (however imperfectly) the technique in Charles van Over's _The Best Bread Ever_. IOW and per the directions, I kneaded the dough in a food processor for 45 seconds before the first rise, or "fermenting," as he calls it. I wonder if spritzing the loaves once in the oven with lightly salted water would give a better crust.

I'll check out the flipping board you linked me to. I did wonder how I would transfer a risen loaf to a baking pan without deflating the loaf, so I'm guessing the board is the answer to that question. Again, thanks!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Excellent answer. Thank you. Until recently I thought you should mix the dough firmly enough to hold the baguette shape without anything reinforcing the sides. And I did proof and bake on a newly purchased baguette pan yesterday. Those three small loaves turned out better than anything I had made up till now but still didn't quite have the crust I wanted, and they are very narrow loaves. I have a couche on order. I used the recipe and (however imperfectly) the technique in Charles van Over's _The Best Bread Ever_. IOW and per the directions, I kneaded the dough in a food processor for 45 seconds before the first rise, or "fermenting," as he calls it. I wonder if spritzing the loaves once in the oven with lightly salted water would give a better crust.

I'll check out the flipping board you linked me to. I did wonder how I would transfer a risen loaf to a baking pan without deflating the loaf, so I'm guessing the board is the answer to that question. Again, thanks!

try this recipe. Bake as instructed. Try not to go off on your own

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-baguettes-recipe

 

[Fred]

The loaves I made the day before yesterday are getting stale already, so I'll give this a try and see what I get. I'm lazy, so I'll definitely use the dough hook of my mixer.

This is very different from the technique I used most recently. Using a "starter" will be an all-new experience as well. Heading down to the kitchen now (while trying to figure out how to measure 1/16th of a teaspoon. Sheesh.)

 

[Norcalbaker59]

The loaves I made the day before yesterday are getting stale already, so I'll give this a try and see what I get. I'm lazy, so I'll definitely use the dough hook of my mixer.

This is very different from the technique I used most recently. Using a "starter" will be an all-new experience as well. Heading down to the kitchen now (while trying to figure out how to measure 1/16th of a teaspoon. Sheesh.)

Starters are the key to flavor. Baguettes do not keep. They are a bake and eat today bread. You can get some life out of them by preheating up the oven and placing the baguette in to reheat for a few minutes.

 

[Fred]

Meant to respond before now. I used the recipe with the starter. It produced the best baguettes I've ever made. My previous and next-best effort produced nice looking baguettes but didn't give me the crust I wanted. This time I actually overdid the crust just a tad. Today, with greater confidence, I'll be making baguettes yet again.

All this chatter is just a way of saying thanks for the info and for directing me to the King Arthur site! My baguettes have been improved forever!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Meant to respond before now. I used the recipe with the starter. It produced the best baguettes I've ever made. My previous and next-best effort produced nice looking baguettes but didn't give me the crust I wanted. This time I actually overdid the crust just a tad. Today, with greater confidence, I'll be making baguettes yet again.

All this chatter is just a way of saying thanks for the info and for directing me to the King Arthur site! My baguettes have been improved forever!

It takes some practice. The flour is really important. King Arthur makes great flour. There is a mill called Central Milling that provides flour to the top bakers and bakeries in the country. I prefer their flours for most of my baking. After you get consistent with their recipe, then, then I would encourage you to look up Jeffrey Hamelman’s recipe or better yet, buy his book Bread.



Video on shaping that is very helpful

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I made these with a variety of Central Milling flours. Flour, hydration, time, and temperature all come into play to determine crust texture. Baguettes are very difficult to make. In France the definition of what can be sold as a baguette is regulated by law.

There’s an international baking competition that happens every three or four years in Paris called the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. A handful of teams represented by country compete in different categories. There’s a category specific to baguettes. Those who earn the right to represent their country well spend six or more months baking up to 100 baguettes daily in preparation for the competition. That’s how coveted the baguette it is.

Soooo don’t feel bad about struggling with your baguettes.

Noticed the difference in crumb color of the two baguettes below. They are two different formulas.

The baguette on top is a blend of Central Milling Type 70 and Artisan Bakers Craft. The 70 refers to the extraction rate. This flour is a blend of hard red winters wheats. This flour is similar to flours milled in France.

 

[Fred]

Going to make a French onion soup tomorrow, so baguettes are back on the menu! Fully stocked with King Arthur bread flour. I'll never enter a baguette competition--and most especially not in France--but thanks for all that info!

 

[Bakergirl]

Do you use a baguette baking pan? If so, this question is for you. Once you have formed your baguettes, do you let them rise on the nonstick baguette pan on which you'll bake them or do you first let them rise in a couche or in some other way and then transfer them to the pan for baking?

I keep trying to make a decent baguette and have never made a truly good one yet. They don't hold their shape all that well and I never before used a couche or a baguette pan. I recently purchased the pan and want to try it out. Just not sure whether to let it rise on the pan or to transfer the bread to the pan after its rise.

I shape and rise mine on a cotton towel dusted with whole wheat flour in the baguette pan. They I just roll them into the pan one at a time. Then brush with water and slash

 

[damien240]

Hello, I use molds better bread comes out than without the best, without a frying pan you can let it rise, it will be the best idea