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Pain a l'ancienne...NO rise...


jmolinari

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Last weekend i made Pain a l'ancienne following the recipe/procedure in Bread Bakers apprentice. It is by far the best bread i've ever made, the flavor was sweet and sugary from the autolyzation in the fridge...

My problem is that my baguettes are essentially pancakes:) They have the correct width/length, but ZERO height. I followed his instructions, took it out of fridge, let it double, gently dump it out, split it in 2, then split each piece in 3 stips and put it on a flat surface.. The 1st 3 i put in the oven were totally flat..ZERO rise.

The 2nd 3, that proofed for about 2 hours before i put them in the oven, got 2 or 3 LARGE bubbles in them (like huge, too big, about 1" airspace)...flavor was outstanding..if i can get the crumb right that would be awesome.

Any ideas as to what i might have done wrong?

jason

Edited by jmolinari (log)
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I followed his instructions, took it out of fridge, let it double, gently dump it out, split it in 2, then split each piece in 3 stips and put it on a flat surface..

I've had the best luck by not following his instructions at this point.

Instead, I take the dough out of the refrigerator, immediately portion & form it, and then let it sit covered at room temperature for 4-8 hours. Basically, as long as it takes to rise. The dough never really quite doubles, but does appear puffy. The most I've gotten is an approximately 1"- high loaf, but the crumb is spectacular.

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I followed his instructions, took it out of fridge, let it double, gently dump it out, split it in 2, then split each piece in 3 stips and put it on a flat surface..

I've had the best luck by not following his instructions at this point.

Instead, I take the dough out of the refrigerator, immediately portion & form it, and then let it sit covered at room temperature for 4-8 hours. Basically, as long as it takes to rise. The dough never really quite doubles, but does appear puffy. The most I've gotten is an approximately 1"- high loaf, but the crumb is spectacular.

Ok, thanks for the tip. I'll try that next time i made this bread.

jason

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I had the same problem and figured it was because I was using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast.

I still use active dry yeast and follow the same procedure mktyke has outlined above. The flavor is outstanding.Mine doesnt rise as much as breads usually do but it does have a lot of big holes in the interior.

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just got done baking off yesterday. Crumb was good, not too much height 1-1.5" on baguettes. Baked half free on a sheet and couched the other half, then baked on a sheet. not much difference for me in shape, rise. The 2-3 hour rise from cooler in the recipe is understated-took me a good 5+ at 75f to get there.

My dough was too wet-need to adjust now that i know what i'm looking for. also need to reline my oven deck with tiles to give me some more oven spring.

I'll let ya know next time around.

danny

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I made this numerous times and the only thing I do different than his instructions is to divide the dough into four not six baguettes. However even with six I still got a decent rise but the loafs were a little too slender for my liking. This really is the best baguette I have ever tasted.

Flat as a pancake is very strange. I would think maybe your oven is not hot enough or you overworked the loafs when shaping. also make sure your yeast is not expired.

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

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contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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