SUNDAY FUN DAY

Received the King Arthur Flour mail order catalog for March 2016 this week. Inside was an interesting recipe for baguettes using an overnight sponge. Decided to try it out and made the sponge last night. Lots of activity in the morning with just a hint of a sour note.

The recipe calls for three baguettes. I like to use a baguette pan but this only holds two baguettes. The third? Well let's try for an Epi de Ble. This was the result:

First time I have tried to make an Epi, still have to work some on the cuts. Dough was very wet - I calculate it at about 74% using the 10oz water suggested for winter climate and it stood up well in the baguette pan but flattened out some with the Epi. Nice blisters and color in the crust. Next time I think I'll drop the water down to 8oz which will yield about a 64% hydration.


Then on to a batch of Ken Forkish's Pain de Campagne which is a hybrid with both levain and instant yeast. Made a double batch and created two batards and two boules. Baked the batards on the pizza stone with a steam pan under. Baked the two boules as usual in the dutch oven. Still experimenting with wetter dough and really do not have my shaping right yet. 

Boules

One of the batards

Overall, pleased with the crust, color and crumb. A good days baking.