Has anyone used King Arthur's French-Style Flour for making baguettes?
How was the crumb?

I've been trying to make lite and tender baguettes for months now.
I've tried all-purpose and bread flour. I just can't seem to get the
kind of crumb that I would find in baguettes at a bakery. Might I be
expecting too much from my conventional oven?

I've tried using poolish, slow-rising the dough in the fridge, etc.
Just can't get a lighter texture.

Have you noticed any difference between using fresh yeast and instant?

I have been unable to truly duplicate the results that bakeries get with
their french bread in any home oven that I've ever used. That's not to
say I haven't made some good french bread, but it's more hit and miss
than I'd like.

I haven't tried the King Arthur French-style flour yet, but the flour is
definitely important. Years ago I brought back a couple of kilos of
bread flour from a trip to France. I thought it made a positive
difference in the flavor and texture of the french bread I was trying to
make a the time, but that small quantity didn't last long enough to let
me experiment very much. Since then I've gone more toward whole grain
breads, so haven't played around with flours now available.

One thing that really did make a difference with French-style breads for
me was throwing some water into the oven to produce steam just after
putting in the loaves to bake. I think I got that tip from a Julia
Child TV show, but it was the single most significant improvement I saw
in quality of crust and texture of the breads I was making.

Bob
==============================
In article .com>,
says...
> Has anyone used King Arthur's French-Style Flour for making baguettes?
> How was the crumb?
>
> I've been trying to make lite and tender baguettes for months now.
> I've tried all-purpose and bread flour. I just can't seem to get the
> kind of crumb that I would find in baguettes at a bakery. Might I be
> expecting too much from my conventional oven?
>
> I've tried using poolish, slow-rising the dough in the fridge, etc.
> Just can't get a lighter texture.
>
> Have you noticed any difference between using fresh yeast and instant?
>

Baking Mad wrote:
> Has anyone used King Arthur's French-Style Flour for making baguettes?
> How was the crumb?
>
> I've been trying to make lite and tender baguettes for months now.
> I've tried all-purpose and bread flour. I just can't seem to get the
> kind of crumb that I would find in baguettes at a bakery. Might I be
> expecting too much from my conventional oven?
>
> I've tried using poolish, slow-rising the dough in the fridge, etc.
> Just can't get a lighter texture.
>
> Have you noticed any difference between using fresh yeast and instant?

Get Julia's book "How to cook" and follow her recipe for
baguettes. Best I've ever seen for home baking. Better than
most bakeries.

Pastorio

Baguettes are difficult to reproduce at home as they require a very hot oven
and steam. However, by using less yeast and triple frementation you can
produce a bread with superior taste and far better texture than massproduced
baguettes.
Yes it is huge difference between fresh and instant yeast.
the best recipe for home made baguettes is

1 1/4 lb unbleached white bread flour
4oz fine French plain flour
2Tsp salt
1/2oz fresh yeast (for instant 1/6oz, but i recomend to use fresh)
18fl oz lukewarm water
this is enought to make 3 loaf

"Baking Mad" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Has anyone used King Arthur's French-Style Flour for making baguettes?
> How was the crumb?
>
> I've been trying to make lite and tender baguettes for months now.
> I've tried all-purpose and bread flour. I just can't seem to get the
> kind of crumb that I would find in baguettes at a bakery. Might I be
> expecting too much from my conventional oven?
>
> I've tried using poolish, slow-rising the dough in the fridge, etc.
> Just can't get a lighter texture.
>
> Have you noticed any difference between using fresh yeast and instant?
>

I use regular grocery store brand AP flour, and for steam, I put a jelly
roll pan right on the bottom of my oven while pre-heating. Put the
loaves in, and pour boiling water into the hot bottom pan. WATCH OUT
for immediate steam. Use those long oven mitts.

I use Electrolux CombiOven so I dont care about it.. for trivial ovens I
can recomend to use some tank with water on the bottom of oven. Anyway it is
almost impossible to make good crumb, but ALMOST
PS. If you really want to do something , you can do anything
PSS. waiting for congratulation lol, I took 1st place in Competition of
Young Chef of Year 2006
http://www.facebattle.com/aarafin details in gallery
> wrote in message
...
>I use regular grocery store brand AP flour, and for steam, I put a jelly
> roll pan right on the bottom of my oven while pre-heating. Put the
> loaves in, and pour boiling water into the hot bottom pan. WATCH OUT
> for immediate steam. Use those long oven mitts.
>