Kenneth > wrote in
:

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

Thanks for correcting me.

>
> Are you sure that the canvas went into the oven?
>
> I don't think so.
>

I am absolutely sure. In fact, it might have been made from fiberglass or
some other fiber besides cotton, but the oven temperatures did not seem to
affect it at all.

> 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.
>

The bakers slashed the ficelles in the couche, then pushed the whole
assembly into the oven.

> 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.
>
Seems like a good idea to me.

G