Comments on: Baguettes: DO try this at home.

By: cokey

cokey — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:20:30 +0000

I have the perforated italian bread pan - you bake two loaves at a time in this pan. Can I use the same recipe and just divide it in half instead of thirds? Do you happen to know what recipe came with the pan?

Yes, divide it in half and bake till golden. Sorry, don’t know what recipe came with the pan… Maybe our customer service team can chime in here? - PJH

By: rohroh

rohroh — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:19:51 +0000

The French never intended to have chocolat croisants,now it’s a pest and worse.Stuffed Baguettes?Sounds like a Bill Wyman franshise to me.Leave it alone.The French bread is just fine by itself,in all the various regions.I never saw that one in France.Nothing wrong with the bread though,just don’t call it a Baguette.
Robert

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:29:10 +0000

Hi. If Mike in Nebraska is still watching this (or if anyone else wants to comment), I’d be curious to know how the baguettes that were frozen turned out. I may have to make 15 or more baguettes for a wedding coming up soon, and just can’t see staying up all night trying to make them for a morning wedding. Wish I could convince the bride to have rolls like those yummy, yummy semolina rolls.

Thanks.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:14:05 +0000

Wow, I’m really enthusiastic about trying baguettes again after seeing the pictures and reading the comments. My earlier attempts following Julia’s recipe and directions turned out only so-so. I’ll let you know how it works. Here in Central Ohio I can’t get an authentic baguette, so I’m really hoping this will work.

Good luck, Peggy. Having those step-by-step, “hold your hand” photos is really useful, I think. And remember - practice makes perfect. If they’re not exactly what you want the first time, don’t give up - they’ll still be edible, I’m sure! - PJH

By: Will

Will — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:58:57 +0000

I just want to thank you for this excellent run through! I used this recipe over the last day as a way to test out my stand mixer. It was the first time I’d ever baked bread… and both the regular and stuffed baguettes came out amazing! I used half unbleached white and half traditional whole wheat flour for the dough and londonport, fresh mozzarella, and hot mustard for the stuffed. If it weren’t for the quality of this walkthrough (and KA flour), I doubt my first loaf would’ve turned out so well… and I’d be out a new hobby!

Will, that’s GREAT! Welcome to the great big wonderful world of bread-baking. It can be as simple (or complicated!) as you want, and make it… Check out the other yeast recipes we have here (hot cheese bread, and onion buns, for instance) - and stay tuned for my next post later today, Focaccia Five Ways. And kingarthurflour.com is loaded with bread recipes. Thanks for using King Arthur Flour (it’s the best - no brag, just the truth); and ENJOY. (P.S. Are you using SAF instant yeast? Instant yeast is SO much less expensive and easier to use than active dry…) - PJH

By: Mike in Nebraska

Mike in Nebraska — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:47:27 +0000

PJ, we’ve made the stuffed baguettes several times now, and it may take us weeks before we run out of ideas for what to stuff them with. On the list of things to try are pepperoni/marinara/mozzarella, tuna/tomato/cheddar cheese, brown sugar/cinnamon, and some kind of fruit stuffing, most likely peaches.

So far our favorites have been ham with pepper jack cheese, sun dried tomato turkey with pepper jack and beef with either cojack or pepper jack. (I think the latter are even better with a little tomato, which I sliced fairly thin then blotted with a paper towel to keep the baguette from getting too soggy.)

Today we tried some with shrimp and marinara, shrimp and asiago/romano/parmesian, and crab with asiago/romano/parmesian. The shrimp ones were a bit of a disappointment, but that’s probably because the shrimp was a bit short on flavor. I also added a little butter to the cheese ones, to make sort of an alfredo-like sauce.

We’ve also learned that they can be made up a day in advance, but you need to give them about 2 hours to warm up and they take a little longer to bake. (I may try warming them up in my proofer to see if we can speed that up.) I’ve also got 3 in the freezer to see how well they handle being frozen before being baked.

Yesterday, I substituted 2 oz of medium rye flour and made a set that way,the ham and cheese were excellent, I thought the best was a stuffed reuben with pastrami, a little mayo, swiss cheese and some sauerkraut. I think I could have nearly doubled the amount of rye flour.

WOW, Mike - you certainly know how to take an idea and run with it -big time! Thanks for all the great ideas. I love anything involving cheese and tomatoes, so I think I’ll go that route first… thanks again - PJ

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:41:24 +0000

I have been working with an earlier baguette recipe that I was given at the King Arthur Baking Education center. It calls for 16.25 ounces of King Arthur All Purpose Flour and 10.5 ounces of water in a formulation that yields 2 baguettes about 17 or so inches long. I would have thought that to get 3 baguettes, I would have had to increase the flour and water to 22.875 and 15.75 ounces each, an increase of 50%. Your formulation gets there with 19 ounces of flour and only 12 ounces of water. Am I not thinking correctly about how to increase the yield of a recipe?
Also, why does the use of ‘bread’ flour require more water?
Using my old and very much trusted formulation for baguettes, I have stuffed them as you suggested with wonderful results. A variation that my wife enjoys is a mixture of spinach, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a few chunks of provolone. Be sure to squeeze as much moisture out of the spinach as possible. Two tablespoons or so of the mixture does the trick.

Hi Kevin: Well, bread baking is as much art as science. Perhaps the baguettes you made were fatter; they were longer, which makes a difference. You’re kind of thinking correctly about how to increase the yield of a recipe… but not taking into consideration how much more volume is involved in a fatter, longer baguette (because it’s impossible to tell, really). As for bread flour, it’s higher gluten (higher protein), and the higher the protein in flour, the more water it will absorb. So you need more water (compared to all-purpose flour) to produce the same consistency of dough.

Love your suggestion for Parmesan, provolone and spinach - that’s now on my to-do list! Thanks, Kevin- PJH

By: Joanne

Joanne — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:47:10 +0000

I have been baking bread long before going to culinary school and these were the best I’ve made so far. The crust had just the right crunch and the inside was wonderful. Since there were three baguettes I shared the other two with my daughters. Thank you so much for this recipe.

By: Bob Wojtko

Bob Wojtko — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:33:28 +0000

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Great baguettes! Even though we live in the Rocky Mountains at 8000′ this recipe produced excellent results. I cut each rising to about 50-55 minutes, however I think the keys to this bread are your hints: 1) slightly sticky dough 2) move the oven rack to the upper position.
I’ll be making these baguettes often.

By: David H.

David H. — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:08:55 +0000

I would like to Thank King Arthur Flour for being so helpful to the home baker. I have been baking bread for 40 years and I use KA Flour as often as I can find it. I used to bring it back to the south after vacations at home on Cape Cod. It has been available about the last tem years in larger cities so I would stock up, now it is carried locally. I have only been making these baguettes in the last 5 years after my second trip to a King Arthur Travel Class. One in Knoxville TN and another in Atlanta Ga.

This is completely different methodology than the normal breads I have made in the past. So much so I have had to completely learn this new process of wet and sloppy compared to firmer. Your pictures and write up make it almost sailor proof. I had a skipper on the submarine I served on said only one sailor would make it to heaven.

Any way what I want to ask about is to ask about using barley to improve browning of the crust. There are several kinds and was wondering what is used for what and what amount to use.

For example:
Malted Barely liquid,
Diastatic Malt Powder
and Non-Diastatic powder (your package says this is for Bagels, does this act as a gultton inhibitor or dough relaxer and can this also be used for making pizza doughs)

I have noticed that Diastatic Malt Barlety is added to your Artisan Bread Flour.

Canany of these Barely Products be used, instead of flour on a roast to enhance browning and thicken juices for making gravies.

THanks and keep up the good work

Hi David - YOU keep up the good work, too! Congratulations on your baguettes-

Malted barley is actually barley that’s roasted till it becomes sweet, then ground. It’s added to flour to help the yeast: enzymes in the malted barley convert the starch in flour into simple sugars, which the yeast then feeds on. Non-diastatic malt actually does NOT contain enough of these enzymes to convert starch, and thus is used purely as a sweetener. Diastatic malt has the full quotient of enzymes, and is used as explained above. Malted barley syrup is like non-diastatic; used purely as a sweetener. So if you’re looking for something to help your yeast breads (including pizza dough), choose diastatic malt. But only use a tiny bit- maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per 3 cups of flour. I wouldn’t see any use for any of these in roasted meats… - PJH