Boules, Baguettes and Batards, Oh My

[weinoo]

In a number of posts in other topics (e.g. Sourdough Troubleshooting and no-knead) for example, I've posted about and shown some pictures of my home baked breads like this one...

At this point in my bread making career, I've limited myself to the shape shown above, called a boule, which is a French term for ball...(actaully I also bake rolls, loaves and focaccia, but they're not really relevant to this question). The reasons for the boule are that it's quite easy for me to make this shape, it rises nicely and I bake these breads in a covered Dutch oven, which doesn't really lend itself to a baguette or batard shape.

I generally use about 16 ounces (500 grams) of flour hydrated with 12 ounces of water (325 - 350 grams) and a cup or so of starter...this gives a final product of just under a pound and a half.

I guess since I'm pretty happy with the results, I haven't branched out to other shapes or sizes. And I really like the way the crust shines when the bread is baked in a covered Dutch oven. But those other shapes are beckoning.

So, I'm wondering what shapes and sizes of breads everyone else is making these days?

[abooja]

I, too, have been enamored of the boule for the same reason. I didn't think it possible to get that same oven spring and crust by simply baking on a stone. Then, last week, I tried my hand at Reinhart's French bread recipe, the first French bread I've made since I was a kid (I'm now in my late 30s), and it was a great success. The baguette, while far from having been mastered, is apparently doable in a home oven. I managed to bake three baking stone length baguettes of more or less the same size at once. They were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside (not wet soft, more towards fluffy) and completely edible. They would have gotten better color had I not accidentally turned off the oven for seven minutes when I thought I was shutting off the timer. (Damn new-to-me oven.) The best part was that this loaf seems to freeze well. Reheating a chunk in the oven a few days later had much the same texture as on the day it was baked.

That said, I still wish they sold oblong, cast iron Dutch ovens with room for more than one loaf at a time. The Baparoma steam baking pan just doesn't do it for me. It forces you to bake one loaf at a time, of restricted length. I also like putting the dough in a hot, preferably cast iron container rather than a cold, aluminum one set into a cold oven. Seems antithetical to sound bread baking theory. Until I get a steam injection system of some variety, or a brick oven, I will continue to bake baguettes using the old pan of boiling water/spritzing oven walls trick.

[slkinsey]

There are a few reasons the "500 gram of flour" boule is a common shape to make...

First, it's difficult to find rising baskets in any other shape.

Second, rising in a basket is very convenient if you want to retard the formed dough.

Third, this is a size that bakes well in a home oven.

I do make other shapes from time to time, but these can be considerably more trouble to retard in the refrigerator. You definitely want a sheet pan and some kind of couche, and then you have to figure out some way of wrapping the whole thing in a plastic bag without having any of the plastic touching the exposed surface of the bread. Here are some sourdough baguettes I made the other day:

I've had pretty good luck with ciabatta as well (although I find that this one needs a fast rise once it is shaped, so I don't retard it).

Although it can be more convenient for sandwiches, I've never done any breads in a loaf pan. Have been meaning to get a pullman pan to make square sandwich bread.

[slkinsey]

Lisa: For steam, I have had good results bringing a 1 qt straight gauge saucepan to a rolling boil on the stove and then putting it in the preheated oven on a corner of the baking stone, where it continues to boil until it is removed. I put the saucepan in the oven maybe 5 minutes before I put in the bread.

[gfron1]

I live on the batard. I have a slightly stiffer dough and so its easy to shape, holds its shape in the fridge overnight and then I can fit 3 on my stone when it goes in the oven. And its a great shape for slicing and tossing in the toaster. While boules are pretty especially when I proof them in a banneton, they aren't convenient except at dinner parties.

[weinoo]

While boules are pretty especially when I proof them in a banneton, they aren't convenient except at dinner parties.

←

This I don't necessarily understand - how are they not convenient? A boule can last me 3 days keeping the cut side down on the wooden counter.

Sam - when do you pull the steam out of the oven? I generally uncover the Dutch oven at 25 minutes and finish baking it in dry heat.

[gfron1]

While boules are pretty especially when I proof them in a banneton, they aren't convenient except at dinner parties.

←

This I don't necessarily understand - how are they not convenient? A boule can last me 3 days keeping the cut side down on the wooden counter.

←

I'm referring mostly to the size/shape v. use. Most of my bread eating is either at a dinner or for breakfast which implies toasting. So once I have transitioned from a dinner loaf, if it doesn't fit in the toaster, then I have to cut it more. Not a major inconvenience, but why add the extra work when a batard will fit the bill for me.

[slkinsey]

I usually pull out the steam half-way through the baking process. I am still refining that, actually. I've been leaving in the heavy slate that I normally use for pizza, but am thinking that it may be too much stored heat for something that needs to bake for more than 120 seconds. So I'm going to swap out the slate for regular "baking stones" when I bake bread. I'd like the Dutch oven method, but don't currently have anything small enough. Maybe it's time to get that medium-sized Staub?

[weinoo]

Maybe it's time to get that medium-sized Staub?

←

In between 3 and 4 quarts would be perfect - keep your eyes opened for sales. As I may have said somewhere else, I had good luck with a Chinese sandy/clay pot with lid. They run under $10, come in a myriad of sizes, so it might be worth a try.

[slkinsey]

gfron1: Is your bâtard more like a short, thick baguette or more like an elongated boule?

I guess I'd call what I baked above bâtards rather than baguettes, and they aren't ideal for toasting in my slice toaster. The boule slices much better for that (although perhaps 5% on each "skinny side" of the boule isn't great). On the other hand, something that is more like an oval boule is very good for slicing and toasting.

[abooja]

On the other hand, something that is more like an oval boule is very good for slicing and toasting.

I'd imagine my 7-1/2 quart oval Dutch oven would be perfect for this shape. I'll give that a try one day.

[slkinsey]

The difficulty is in finding an oval banneton.

[Alcuin]

The difficulty is in finding an oval banneton.

←

Look for a brotform instead of a banneton. They come in all kinds of shapes, even oval.

[abooja]

The difficulty is in finding an oval banneton.

I'd just use any kind of oval basket of the right dimensions and line it with parchment. I do the same for boules.

[slkinsey]

Parchment? Don't you find that the parchment sticks to the dough?

[Alcuin]

Parchment?  Don't you find that the parchment sticks to the dough?

←

You can use a regular basket lined with a towel (preferably of linen) that's floured and bone-dry.

The parchment wouldn't stick if you baked on it, so you'd have to proof it seam side down and transfer it to your stone or dutch oven on the parchment to bake if you wanted to do that to ensure there's no stickage.

[abooja]

Parchment?  Don't you find that the parchment sticks to the dough?

Nope, not at all. I dust the bottom of the dough with some flour, not an excessive amount, then ease it into the parchment lined basket. The parchment doesn't so much line the basket as it does hover above it, approximately centered. It then more or less conforms to the shape of the basket once the dough is placed inside. After the first 18 minutes or so of baking inside a Dutch oven, I remove it, and the dough, and continue baking directly on the stone, sans paper. Works every time. You won't get any pretty designs on the bottom, but it allows you to use pretty much anything as a proofing container.

[slkinsey]

So you proof seam-side down and don't invert the dough for baking?

[abooja]

So you proof seam-side down and don't invert the dough for baking?

Yup.

[Alcuin]

So you proof seam-side down and don't invert the dough for baking?

Yup.

←

I've done this but I have to say I don't like the way the parchment affects the shape of the loaf. I've found that the crinkles of the parchment impress themselves on the dough and bake them in. They may be subtle and most people wouldn't notice them but I do. A dry floured towel works just as well so I use that instead (when I'm not using my banneton that is, and that's rare). I proof seam up and invert, as usual.

edited for grammar

Edited January 30, 2009 by Alcuin (log)

[slkinsey]

Yea. I'm not fond in general of non-inverted boules. Something about them doesn't come out quite to my aesthetic sense.

[abooja]

The parchment idea comes from Cook's Illustrated's version of no-knead bread, which sought a method of lowering the dough into the vessel without deflating it. It allows for a much higher hydration dough, such as the original no-knead bread, which is so wet it basically needs to be dumped into the Dutch oven. This is clearly less of a problem if you are easily able to manipulate the proofed dough. I suppose a wetter dough could also be inverted if baked straight from the fridge.

[slkinsey]

Lisa: What hydration are you doing? I usually do between 67% and 70% for a boule (which I am also doing sourdough, with the expected consequences as to fragility) and don't have any troubles with deflation unless I misjudge and overproof. Do you slash? I find that it's really the slashing that seems to deflate a fragile dough much more than inverting.

I don't do the dutch oven method at present, but I could envision inverting the banneton onto parchment, slashing the dough and then using the parchment to lower it into the dutch oven without flopping it in there.

Edited January 30, 2009 by slkinsey (log)

[tino27]

I tend to do very wet and freeform ciabattas and use parchment paper. After I get all of my folds done, I do a final "shaping" and place the loaf on parchment (seam side down). The entire lot gets transferred via my peel to the baking stone. About half-way through the baking time, I simply slide the paper out from under the loaf and finish baking on the stone. Works like a charm every time.

As for what shapes I personally prefer, I think a lot of it depends on how I intend to use the finished breads. French dough is almost always shaped into batards. If I'm doing breads for a party where I know I'll be doing little sandwiches or the like, I'll pull out my Pullman pans. Otherwise it's mostly boules for me, too.

[slkinsey]

Parchment is 100% necessary for ciabatta, I think. How else to do it?