baguette

[solarbird]

I have discovered that I quite like baking baguettes. It's easy, you get to punch things, and then delicious bread comes out. I honestly don't know what else one could want.

I wonder if I would enjoy other forms of cooking more if they also involved punching ingredients until they turn into delicious food.

Comments

[solarbird]

Also, I finally looked at the video that's with the recipe. I have some thoughts on it!

1) My yeast doesn't foam that aggressively. It may depend upon the kind of yeast. I use Red Star, and I get plenty of rise, even though it forms far less bubble than shown in the video. (Like, not even comparable. It's only a little.) So if you don't see that mountain of foam, that's fine, just make sure you've given it at least five minutes and you have some bubbling.

2) You don't need a mixer/kitchen aid/hook, whatever, to mix the flower and yeast. You can use a spoon to start, then just dig in with your hands. You'll know you've got enough water in the dough when the dough feels smooth, but not sticky, and really wants to cling together like you see in the video. If it's sticky - if it's wet and bits are sticking to your hands - just add a little bit more flour and it'll be fine.

3) You can knead directly in the mixing bowl if it's big enough. That's what I do. No need to set out a floured surface if you don't want to, and it reduces the cleanup. Also, you can use spray oil (like Pam, which is just canola oil) and you'll have no problems with sticking to the bowl while it rises.

4) I keep my house cool, so I use my oven (at lowest setting) as the rising environment. I also put in a little bowl of water on the lower oven shelf during rises to keep everything from drying out. I get the oven to its lowest "keep warm" temperature, let the dough rise for a bit, then turn the oven off so it doesn't stay too hot. So far, it works well! But this does cut the baking time to like 10 minutes.

5) The punching down is so much fun. I really wail on it. ♥ But it really takes very little! I just think it's fun.

6) The most important thing in the video is the folding. I had to figure that out without the video, because of reasons. But I figured it out correctly just from the text! Also, I use a silicon sheet for a folding surface instead of a floured surface, but that's just because I have that.

All this may make it sound more difficult than it is, I worry about that - I am just trying to think of all the things that might trip somebody up... and also things to let it be done more easily!

I have made a lot of pie crusts, and I can tell you, bread is much easier than pie crust. So... yes! There's all that.