chembake wrote:

> Ferment one and a half hour then knock it back and let it rise more by
> quarter of an hour then divide it let it rest for 15 minutes then mold.

Hey, chembake...

I've been trying to get home-made French bread to approximate the bakery
versions for an article I'm writing. They haven't been bad, but neither
were they good.

A Northern Italian professional baker who recently located near here
said my proportions were fine, but I needed to change the times and
volumes of rise. He also said I should let it work at 75°F rather than
warmer or cooler.

Mix with cool water. He said it can be done in a mixer, by hand or in a
processor. As long as the dough doesn't get warm. Knead 50 strokes. Put
into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise.

First rise takes between 1 1/2 and 2 hours (in a bowl that he said not
to grease, so I didn't, and a tiny bit stuck. Not enough to make a
difference.), but only rises to about 150% of initial volume. It rises,
but it's dense. Then punch down and knead 50 strokes, floured board. Let
rest for a few minutes and roll and pull to a 14-inch rectangle and roll
from the wide sides into the center (as though making palmiers). Pinch
the seam, turn it on its side and roll/pull again. And bring in the
sides again and pinch it closed. Let rise on floured towel (no sticks to
hold them up - dough stiff enough not to need it) seam side up, covered
with floured towels, until it rises to three times volume. Roll over
onto peel, slash and bake on a stone or a baguette pan (done both and
both were excellent) at 450°F for 20 minutes (throw 1/2 cup water into
the oven), lower heat to 400°F for another 20 minutes.

It's all wrong if my school baking instructors are to be believed.
Overworked. Dough too stiff - 460 grams flour (strange mixture - 450
grams high gluten and 10 grams whole wheat - never heard of anything
like that), 300 gms water (salt, yeast) - and this 75°F is either too
cool or too warm depending on whether a warm or cold rise, by normal
processes.

The bread was wonderful. When it was cooling, it "sang" as the crust
crackled. The inside was chewy and light, even bubbles, moist crumb, no
sign of layers. Clean crust. I washed one with egg white to see how it
would take and it shined like it was made of golden glass. Very high
gloss, full gelatinization in the crust, no porosities except in the
slash, which I didn't wash.

What do you think of this recipe approach? Three rises, two full kneads
and then the forming and shaping that was to roll out, fold and re-roll
and re-fold. Triple volume for the shaped loaves? I also tried it with
quick-rise yeast and, as I expected, the finished flavor was nowhere
near as good as with the Red Star dry active. Texture was good, slightly
faster, but it tasted like supermarket French bread.

Pastorio