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| I also found a lot of so-called French baguettes too heavy, so I bake my own.
For less than $20, get this 3xbaguette pan that gives perfect crisp crust under the baguette:
http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Metallic-Commercial-Non-Stick-Perfora...
It's a great American brand over a century old, with made in the U.S. bakeware.
I have their 2xFrench bread pan too, I usually bake both at the same time when I have people in for diner.
These pans wash easily with a sponge of warm water.
I let the dough rise overnight in a large bowl, then pat it down and shape rolls for the pan, let it rise again during the day and bake it before diner. Nothing compares to that smell!
I'll probably get a mixer next. Mixing dough for 3 baguettes is no big deal, but it kind of prevents me from baking as often as I would like. I preferred to invest into a grain mill for the freshest non-rancid flour. I don't like machine baked bread or sandwich bread as much as baguettes.
Oh, and start growing caraway too, I go through a couple pounds of the stuff every year with rye or sourdough bread.
My recipe for a sourdough starter:
Wash a potato, keep it in the dark for several days at room temperature until it starts germinating
Cut it in slices in a bowl
Add a few unwashed red/black grapes, crushed and with their skin
Add a bit of honey, flour and water
Cover with a clothe, expose the bowl to clean air, for instance near a window
Let the natural yeasts from the air and the potato/grapes skins start bubbling
Filter out and add more water and flour
Keep in the fridge in a covered glass or ceramic canister
Add more water and flour every time you bake bread from it
It will easily keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, sometimes more
This recipe seems to give a consistent result every time, although the sourdough will keep for months if you keep taking some out and replacing with fresh water and flour.
I always use whole wheat flour when feeding the yeasts, because I assume that whole wheat grain has some more yeast on the bran than white flour, but I really don't know how "scientific" this is. So even my white bread sourdough baguettes contain a bit of whole wheat from the sourdough starter, which seems to improve the taste.
I use baker's yeast too when I want real light baguettes. | |
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Bread machines...Tell me about yours.
