Anyone have a French bread bread machine recipe that tastes something
like real French bread? I've tried several recipes - not bad white bread,
but not French bread.

TIA

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Ken Knecht wrote:
> Anyone have a French bread bread machine recipe that tastes something
> like real French bread? I've tried several recipes - not bad white bread,
> but not French bread.
>
The ingredients aren't the problem, they're just flour, salt, water and
yeast. What's tough is getting the right crunchiness to the crust and
the airy but even crumb. Most bread machines can't do it. One of mine
had a special setting that got the crust closer to what it should be,
but it still wasn't what you wanted. Check your manual to see if yours
has that, though. Ultimately, I used the machine to knead and then
took the dough out, shaped it and baked it in the oven. -aem

"Ken Knecht" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone have a French bread bread machine recipe that tastes something
> like real French bread? I've tried several recipes - not bad white bread,
> but not French bread.
>
> TIA
>


You can't do it. You can't even necessarily knead the dough properly in a
bread machine. According to Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea
Bakery,[
http://www2.shopping.com/xPF-Nancy_S...ncy_Silverton]
it takes two days to make a baguette, even longer if you make a biga, or
starter before that. About here my discipline falls apart, and my wife makes
me clean up the mess. Pizza with starter is about as far as I get. You might
also look for Peter Reinhardt's "Breadmaker's Apprentice", which addresses
the patience, and attention to detail required to make good bread.
Kent.

"Ken Knecht" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone have a French bread bread machine recipe that tastes something
> like real French bread? I've tried several recipes - not bad white bread,
> but not French bread.
>


I agree with Kent. I make baguettes. The recipe is simple; just flour,
water, yeast, and salt. But like most simple things, attention to the
details is everything. Baguette dough must be made with a sour starter, must
be very well kneaded, must be fermented overnight in the refrigerator, then
carefully formed by hand then baked on stone. I do have one innovation in
home baguette making that I'm proud of. When I form the loaves (my recipe
makes four of them the length of the pizza stone in my oven), I place them
as they are made onto a Pam® sprayed piece of parchment paper. The first
goes against the backsplash against an upturned flap of the parchment. The
second goes against the first with a pleat of the parchment between them.
And so forth until the last is held in place with my heavy commercial box of
aluminum foil. Once they are proofed and slashed and ready, the foil box is
removed, and the parchment is pulled onto a pizza peel, letting the pleats
straighten out. This spaces the baguettes perfectly, and leaves them
straight with no handling to mess them up or deflate them. The peel slides
them onto the pizza stone, parchment and all. The parchment gets very brown,
but it doesn't interfere with the baking and doesn't stick to the bread.
This works far better than any other method I've tried to get the loaves
from proofed to oven. Try it!


--Rich

"Rich" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ken Knecht" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Anyone have a French bread bread machine recipe that tastes something
>> like real French bread? I've tried several recipes - not bad white bread,
>> but not French bread.
>>
>
>
> I agree with Kent. I make baguettes. The recipe is simple; just flour,
> water, yeast, and salt. But like most simple things, attention to the
> details is everything. Baguette dough must be made with a sour starter,
> must be very well kneaded, must be fermented overnight in the
> refrigerator, then carefully formed by hand then baked on stone. I do have
> one innovation in home baguette making that I'm proud of. When I form the
> loaves (my recipe makes four of them the length of the pizza stone in my
> oven), I place them as they are made onto a Pam® sprayed piece of
> parchment paper. The first goes against the backsplash against an upturned
> flap of the parchment. The second goes against the first with a pleat of
> the parchment between them. And so forth until the last is held in place
> with my heavy commercial box of aluminum foil. Once they are proofed and
> slashed and ready, the foil box is removed, and the parchment is pulled
> onto a pizza peel, letting the pleats straighten out. This spaces the
> baguettes perfectly, and leaves them straight with no handling to mess
> them up or deflate them. The peel slides them onto the pizza stone,
> parchment and all. The parchment gets very brown, but it doesn't interfere
> with the baking and doesn't stick to the bread. This works far better than
> any other method I've tried to get the loaves from proofed to oven. Try
> it!
>
>> --Rich
>
>
Wow, Rich! You're doing what I wish I could make myself do. Just a couple of
questions. Where do you get, or how do you make your sourdough starter? How
do you keep it alive from loaf to loaf? How do you score your baguette
without screwing everything up? On a more sober note, what kind of flour do
you use, and where do you find large rolls of parchment in your area that
doesn't break the bank?
Kent

"Kent" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Rich" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Ken Knecht" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Anyone have a French bread bread machine recipe that tastes something
>>> like real French bread? I've tried several recipes - not bad white
>>> bread,
>>> but not French bread.
>>>
>>
>>
>> I agree with Kent. I make baguettes. The recipe is simple; just flour,
>> water, yeast, and salt. But like most simple things, attention to the
>> details is everything. Baguette dough must be made with a sour starter,
>> must be very well kneaded, must be fermented overnight in the
>> refrigerator, then carefully formed by hand then baked on stone. I do
>> have one innovation in home baguette making that I'm proud of. When I
>> form the loaves (my recipe makes four of them the length of the pizza
>> stone in my oven), I place them as they are made onto a Pam® sprayed
>> piece of parchment paper. The first goes against the backsplash against
>> an upturned flap of the parchment. The second goes against the first with
>> a pleat of the parchment between them. And so forth until the last is
>> held in place with my heavy commercial box of aluminum foil. Once they
>> are proofed and slashed and ready, the foil box is removed, and the
>> parchment is pulled onto a pizza peel, letting the pleats straighten out.
>> This spaces the baguettes perfectly, and leaves them straight with no
>> handling to mess them up or deflate them. The peel slides them onto the
>> pizza stone, parchment and all. The parchment gets very brown, but it
>> doesn't interfere with the baking and doesn't stick to the bread. This
>> works far better than any other method I've tried to get the loaves from
>> proofed to oven. Try it!
>>
>>> --Rich
>>
>>
> Wow, Rich! You're doing what I wish I could make myself do. Just a couple
> of questions. Where do you get, or how do you make your sourdough starter?
> How do you keep it alive from loaf to loaf?

The mystique of ancient sourdough starters may be relevant to making the
classic sourdough breads like San Francisco, etc., but all that bother is
unnecessary for the making of a good baguette. Four days before you are
going to bake, mix one cup of bread flour with one cup of water, and
sprinkle just five or six grains of dry yeast on top. Regular, instant--it
doesn't matter. Leave it loosely covered at room temperature. One day later,
remove one cup of it and throw it away. Add 1/2c flour and 1/2c water, and
stir. Leave it alone for another day. Now you've developed the yeast. Feed
it again and put it in the refrigerator for a day. This supresses the yeast
and allows the bacteria that make the sour flavor to culture. Day four, it's
ready to use. Start your dough with all the water that the recipe calls for,
and an equal amount of flour. If you plan to bake bread again soon, remove
two cups of this mixture (now called "poulish") and put it back in the
refrigerator. It will keep indefinitely if you feed it once a week. After a
few days it gets a layer of foul smelling alcohol on top. No problem--just
stir it back in before feeding. You can use it as is, but I think I get
better flavor and texture if I feed it daily for two days before use. Of
course the ideal is to bake every day, using yesterday's poulish, but who
besides professional bakers have the time or energy for that?


> How do you score your baguette without screwing everything up?

Slash quickly with a light hand and something very sharp. I like a single
edge razor blade. The crowded proofing described above helps the loaf hold
its shape and not move any.

> On a more sober note, what kind of flour do you use,

Bread flour, of course. My favorite is the King Arthur "for bread machine"
kind.


> and where do you find large rolls of parchment in your area that doesn't
> break the bank?

Costco.

Good luck.

--Rich