More baguettes

I found myself making baguettes again. The process I used evolved out of necessity because of my busy work schedule. The combination of a preferment followed by a long bulk fermentation guaranteed their excellent flavor and the hand mixing ensured that the dough was not overmixed. The result was a creamy crumb, irregular air pockets and fantastic flavor. One of the constraints was that they were baked on a sheet pan and the oven was barely preheated.

In the past bakes, I had been a little disappointed in the way they looked. The grigne was hardly there and they were all splitting at the bottom. I managed to solve that with a little bit of failure analysis and I was able to get a more decent grigne. 

I know that I am still a long way from perfection but that's the best part since the pleasure is in the journey, not the destination.