At this point in the the Leaven and Poolish are ready (they each pass the “float test”) and the autolyse has been going for 90+ minutes.
I mixed them all together in my KitchenAid mixer with the spiral dough hook. After letting it all rest for about 20 minutes I added the salt, kneaded it a bit more then transferred to the tub.
I performed a coil fold to help develop strength and structure in the dough for the first 90 minutes. After that, the dough sat quietly growing until it had doubled as indicated by the Aliquot jar.
I don’t have any good pics of my dividing or shaping the baguettes. That will need to be a different post sometime in the future. Had I done one this time it would be a “don’t do this” video.
I divided the dough into four 540g loaves. I found the dough tacky and hard to shape. Next time I’ll dust the top of the loaves with flour first then flip over to shape.
Suffice it to say I struggled to get them shaped. I felt as if I handled them too severely and degassed them. It wasn’t pretty.
I also think I made them longer than they needed to be. They were fine in the Couche; however, they hung over the edge of my rack and therefore baked unevenly.
This post is going long and I’ll continue in the next one. Writing this down is helping me remember and reflect on what to do differently next time…. #alwayslearning
Baked By Bear Sourdough 