Howdy,

Please see my comments inline below...



On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 13:10:16 GMT, Gonorio Dineri
> wrote:

>>
>
>
>The bakers I've spent time with in France use a long strip of canvas
>dusted with flour to keep boules from getting flat.

"Boules" are round loaves.


>The baker will lay a
>boule down on the canvas, pointing side to side, lift the canvas next to
>the boule, lay down another boule, lift the canvas, and so on. The
>canvas pooches up between boules and encourages them to hold their round
>shape. Also, the boules are only an inch and a half in diameter, and
>have plenty of gas bubbles in them to reduce their mass, so there isn't
>much dough weight to flatten them. The baker shoves the boules toward
>each other to keep some pressure on their sides so they don't flatten
>out.

Your description is fine, but what you are describing above
are not boules, they are baguettes (or if as narrow as you
mention, "ficelles.")

>Then, he slides a big paddle under the array of canvased boules, lifts
>it, sets it in the oven, and slides the paddle out. In 15 or twenty
>minutes, he removes the baked loaves from the oven, lets them cool a few
>minutes, then takes them off the canvas. The result is beautiful long
>skinny loaves of French bread, nicely oven-sprung, very crusty and
>golden-brown, with huge crumb holes.

Are you sure that the canvas went into the oven?

I don't think so.

What you are describing is a method that the French call
using a "couche." After the dough rises in the canvas (as
you accurately describe) it is rolled out of the canvas onto
a flat board, slashed, and slid into the oven.

Were the canvas to go into the oven, it would cause a few
problems. Not the least of which, it would burn. But, beyond
that, when the moist dough rests in the couche, the top
surface dries a bit. Then, when the risen dough is flipped
over, the tender part that was in contact with the canvas is
then uppermost. It is slashed, and because it is more moist
and flexible, can expand in the oven more than would the
drier part that was formerly the top.

>
>Of course, the bakers duplicate their formula and process perfectly for
>every batch of bread, or else they'd quickly lose their customers.
>
>Such bread dries hard if kept more than 4 hours without eating it.
>That's why the French buy lunch-time bread in the morning, and supper-
>time bread in the late afternoon.
>
>
>If you want similar bread, do your stretching and folding early in the
>process, let the mass rest about 10 minutes, then form boules that are
>long and skinny instead of short and fat. If your dough isn't too wet,
>they might hold their shape better as they rise. And hey, you can also
>go down to JoAnne's Fabrics and buy yourself a strip of heavy canvas.
>I'll bet it's cheaper than bread pans.
>
>Gonorio

All the best,
--
Kenneth

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