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When is a baguette a PITA?


gfweb

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I just made the King Arthur baking  book's baguette. A decent thing, but a two day project and not so good that the effort is justified. Is there a simpler recipe that gives a good result?  

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I use Reinhart's one in BBA, if I forget biga or poolish or whatever it is the night before I just put in a little sprouted wheat flour to get some nice enzymatic action you see from using those.

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6 hours ago, keychris said:

I use Reinhart's one in BBA, if I forget biga or poolish or whatever it is the night before I just put in a little sprouted wheat flour to get some nice enzymatic action you see from using those.

 

Thanks.

What's BBA?

 

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12 hours ago, gfweb said:

I just made the King Arthur baking  book's baguette. A decent thing, but a two day project and not so good that the effort is justified. Is there a simpler recipe that gives a good result?  

Dan Leader’s 4-hour baguette

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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1 hour ago, Shalmanese said:

I think if your Baguette ends up looking like a Pita, something has gone horribly wrong somewhere in your recipe.

 

I may be wrong but I suspect it was supposed to be a pun.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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16 hours ago, gfweb said:

A decent thing, but a two day project and not so good that the effort is justified.

 

Two days, but how much active time?  Is it more than maybe a starter, a punch down, and shaping after a night in the fridge?

 

 

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1 minute ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Two days, but how much active time?  Is it more than maybe a starter, a punch down, and shaping after a night in the fridge?

 

 

Good point.  Not much active time at all, really.

But when I want a baguette today I don't want to wait till tomorrow.

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1 minute ago, gfweb said:

Good point.  Not much active time at all, really.

But when I want a baguette today I don't want to wait till tomorrow.

 That was my thought about your complaint. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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26 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

I just made this one. In 3 hours, because the proofing etc was done at 75 F which sped up the doubling in volume. Success!

Thanks, Anna!

 

 

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You are welcome. I have made it a couple of times and been quite satisfied. 

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Bad puns aside, since Modernist Bread came out I've been trying to use their methods and have had wonderful success with boules but less so with baguettes.  I had thought to bake bread today but went with yeast raised waffles.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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7 hours ago, gfweb said:

But when I want a baguette today I don't want to wait till tomorrow.

 

Clearly you need to plan your cravings farther ahead  ;)

 

But seriously, flavor takes time.  If you want a baguette 2 or 3 times a week, consider the "old dough" method (detailed by Peter Reinhart, I believe).  You keep a little blob of the last batch of dough souring in the fridge and add it to the new batch of dough.  Repeat. 

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