Baguettes la Bouabsa
Nov 1st, 2010 by SteveB
When I first started learning how to bake bread a few years ago, my goal then, as it is to this day, was to be able to bake breads with superior flavor, texture and aesthetics. Most of the bread books I’d read at the time, as well as most of the professional bakers with whom I’d spoken, had emphasized the use of a preferment, whether it be a pte fermente, poolish or levain, to bring out the maximum flavor of the bread. Somewhere lost in the conversation was the fact that the use of preferments evolved as more of a time-saving and scheduling convenience for commercial bread production (see comment by Judson below) and that their use was not, in fact, a necessity for the production of a full-flavored bread. The use of direct dough methods, containing a long, slow fermentation step, could also produce incredibly flavorful breads.
I was recently having this very discussion with Helen, author of the food blogBeyond Salmon, who was well aware of the virtues of extended fermentation and was in the process of investigating its use in the baking of ciabatta. As part of her investigation into the extended fermentation of hand mixed, high hydration doughs, I suggested to Helen that perhaps she might want to have a look at the method used by Anis Bouabsa to create baguettes that wonLa Meilleure Baguette de Paris (The Best Baguette in Paris) for 2008. The original method was first described by good friend and bread baker extraordinaire Jane, author of the blog …Au Levain!, and makes use of a first fermentation time of 22 total hours! The method below was modified to incorporate an autolyse and a double hydration step in order to more efficiently develop the gluten during hand mixing of the 75% hydration dough.
Final Dough
- 500 g La Meunerie MilanaiseOrganic All-Purpose Flour
- 375 g Water
- 10 g Salt
- tsp. Instant Yeast
The flour, salt and yeast are all mixed together in a large bowl. A central well is then formed in the flour mixture and 325 g of the water is added to the well. The water is gently stirred with one hand, gradually drawing in all of the flour mixture until a rough dough is formed. The bowl is then covered with plastic wrap and the dough is allowed to rest for an autolyse period of 30 minutes.
After the autolyse, the dough is tipped onto a work surface and hand-mixed using the slap-and-fold technique (see Musings on Mixing…). Approximately 200 slap-and-folds were required to reach a moderate level of gluten development (further development will occur during subsequent folding and extended fermentation). The dough is then placed back into its bowl and the remaining 50 g of water is added. The water is then incorporated into the dough by further hand mixing, this time through the stretch-and-fold technique, as demonstrated here for pain au levain dough. At the beginning of the mixing, the dough will be very wet and slosh around the bowl, but the mixing is continued until all the water is incorporated. The bowl is then once again covered with plastic wrap and the dough is allowed to undergo a 1 hour fermentation at ambient temperature, with 6-8 stretch-and-folds being performed every 20 minutes during the 1 hour period. After the one hour ambient temperature fermentation, the dough is placed in the refrigerator and allowed to ferment for an additional 21 hours at 40F.
After the 21 hour fermentation period, the dough is removed from the refrigerator and allowed to warm to ambient temperature for 1 hour. The dough is then divided into two pieces of equal weight and each piece is pre-shaped into a short cylinder. The dough pieces are then covered with a plastic sheet and allowed to rest for 15 minutes. Each piece is then shaped into a baguette using the shaping technique shown here, laid onto a floured coucheand allowed to proof at 78F for 45 minutes. The baguettes were then scored and baked in a 480F oven for 20 minutes, the first 10 minutes of which were under steam.
James,
Please see my direct e-mail message to you.
Another fabulous bread. Thank you! Mine was very wet (probably because of the flour I used), but I stuck with the formula anyway. I couldn’t shape them as nicely as you did–they were more like a pain l’ancienne–but still, excellent. Thanks for keeping up this marvelous blog; it’s the finest bread baking resource I’ve ever encountered.
olha seu pes so muitos bonitos parece mesmo ser uma delicia ,tambem sou padeiro aqui no brasil e trabalho com pes orgnicos vamos trocar infomasoes abrao e parabens pelo seu trabalho…
Hi Stephen,
I’m glad you’re finding the blog posts of some value. The Bouabsa baguette dough is, indeed, somewhat wetter than conventional baguette dough and therefore is a bit more challenging to shape. A bit of practice will get you there!
Ol Gilson,
Muito obrigado.
Okay, don’t know if you got earlier message. Please look at this bread nd tell me what you think I should do… please, It took them and also Guzman years to develop, I only have until august. I am on my 5th trial, utilizing your double hydration method.
http://www.pandecristal.com/en/contact
Heide,
Please see my e-mail to you.
I have twice made the bouabasa recipe which I found elsewhere, but which follows the same ingredients and timing. In each case I found the dough too wet and sticky to shape it as I normally would. Nevertheless, the crumb and crust were terrific.
Hello, thank you and congratulations for your great blog, it’s just stunning!
I am very happy to have fallen here
I bake my bread in a cast iron pot closed.
If you know, can you tell me how long I can cook two loaves which are not exactly the shape of the baguette, just half the size for the same weight?
thank you again
Hi Clarice,
Depending upon the water absorption characteristics of the flour you are using, you may have to adjust the amount of water used in the formula.
Hi Pocadilla,
Thank you for your very kind compliments.
If you are asking about the baking time of a baguette that is about half the length of a traditional baguette (a demi baguette), I would still bake for about 10 minutes under steam, then 10 minutes more after venting the steam. Since the surface to volume ratio of a demi baguette is similar to that of a full size baguette, the baking time should not be all that different.
If you are asking about baking a loaf which has a similar surface to volume ratio as a boule, then as a starting point I would look at baking for 20 minutes under steam, than an additional 20 minutes more after venting. Any shape having a surface to volume ratio somewhere between a baguette and a boule should have an intermediate baking time.
Thank you for these precisions.
I followed all your recipe, the dough is in the fridge, cooking tomorrow.
I hate to see the result.
Good evening from Paris
I’m sorry the quality of my English but I trust Google Translate 😉
oops, should have read
I’m eager to see the result…
🙂
Hello Steve
I made the dough this morning to cook a Sunday.
Let the dough ferment twice the time is beneficial for the dough?
thank you
🙂
Hi Steve,
Just wanted to let you know that after several trials with various other baguette formulae, including Hamelman’s, & Suas’ this one and your method worked the best for me. I didn’t have any of the Meunerie Milanese flour on hand so I used 25% Cdn Pastry and 75% Cdn Organic AP, other than that I followed your percentages and ingredients. It turned out 4 very nice crusty baguettines with a beautiful open crumb structure. Thanks for making this formula and method available, it’s a winner!
Franko
Great job man, i’m a baker in Lyon and your work is well done and passionate, i was watching your steam system and it’s very ingenious.
Impressive work and knowledge
these are the best looking baguettes I have ever seen. can’t wait to try your formula! Barbara
Dear Steve, I just wanted to drop a line to thank you for this great recipe (and many others on this website, I would have no doubt). I am a beginner, have spent the past 2 months trying a new recipe every weekend. None worked out the way I had wanted until i came across your blog few weeks ago. I tried on this recipe twice and the bread that I made the second time (this past weekend) had a wonderful bread flavor that I had always wanted. With the 2nd try, I still had 2 little issues: (i) the breads’ bottoms were burnt while the surface looked undercooked – the temp was 250C and breads were placed on the 2nd rack. (ii) the shaping did not turn out well as I eventually had them all quite flat. I am making it the 3rd time tonight. I guess I should reduce the temp to 220C this time and place them on the upper or top rack. As for the problem (ii) – the flat breads, I have no clue other than dividing the dough into bigger pieces. I would appreciate your advice and thanks much in advance. Also, I wonder if you will post more recipes on this wonderful blog. Your last entry was like 2 years ago but I can see that you are still bringing life to it through your responses… Thanks. Jambo.
Hi Jambo,
If you aren’t already doing so, you should consider baking your baguettes on a pre-heated baking stone. Unlike a metal surface, a pre-heated baking stone releases its heat slowly and minimizes the potential for burning the bottom of your loaves. Also, you may want to check the temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer to make sure your oven’s temperature is calibrated properly.
Regarding the flatness of your baguettes, this can be due to a number of factors, including the use of a flour with too low a protein content or an insufficient degree of gluten development during mixing. Try to use a flour with a minimum protein content of 11.2% and mix the dough to a moderate window pane.
I hope to contribute addition posts to the blog in the not too distant future.
[…] So, I started to experiment with the Anis Bouabsa’s recipe which I found through thewebsite called The Fresh Loaf and Bread Cetra. […]
Hi Steve,
I have been a baker for a few years now and I would like to say that your skill, knowledge and passion for bread is FAR beyond what most bakers have, and it is always good to find people like you.
Keep up the great work you do.
Thanks, Matthew
Hi Matthew,
Thank you. Your words are greatly appreciated.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for some inspiring tips and recipes. Will this site see new posts or do you post on another site now?
Many thanks,
Matthew.
Hi Matthew,
Bread cetera is the only site to which I post. I hope to be able to begin posting again in the not too distant future.
That is good to hear!
[…] Die lange, kalte Fhrung scheint DER Trick fr wohlschmeckende Baguettes zu sein, denn auch Anis Baboussa (Gewinner im Jahr 2008) als auch Jean-Nol Julien (Gewinner 1995) und Jean-Pierre Cohier (Gewinner […]
[…] wurde schon von zahlreichen Bloggern nachgebacken und zum Teil modifiziert, darunter dmsnyder, Steve von breadcetera und Petra von Chili und Ciabatta. Das Besondere am Rezept ist die sehr lange, kalte Fhrung. Der […]
Hey Steve… I have been baking baguettes for over a year now using your recipe. I try to tweek it here and there. I am using a 75 to 78 ratio of water to flour. My crust comes out fine as well as the crumb. I use the serving pan steam technique for first 10 minutes. My problem is that the final product is pretty flat. After the first 10 minutes I take the steamer pan off the breads have a nice round shape, but by the time they are fully baked they are more like flattened ovals. Also the scoring seems to never be as distinct after the baking. There is no “ridge”, Any ideas.
George Baumgartner
Hi George,
The steaming pan should only be removed once the loaves begin to show a bit of color, indicating that the maximum oven spring has been attained and the crust has begun to set. Once the crust is set, the final shape of the loaf is pretty much defined and no loaf flattening should occur.
If you are finding that the loaf is deflating before the crust is set, your loaf may be over-proofed. Try cutting back on the proofing time.
Also, as a general rule, breads made with higher hydration doughs (i.e., >70% hydration) tend not to have as sharply defined grignes as those bread made with doughs of more conventional hydration (60-70% hydration).
Hi, I’m writing to you and all the beleaguered bread makers living above 5000 feet in dry climates. We have greater challenges to bread making than cooks do below 3000 ft. The humidity where I live is generally between 10-60%, rarely higher so the amount of water in a recipe can be a problem. I’m making this recipe for the first time. It just snowed here and is very cold and very dry as I am making this bread. I thought the dough was too stiff when I let it rest for the first time, and I added 2 g extra water at the slap and fold step. It was still a bit stiff, but became pliable and elastic as I worked it. I added the full 50 g water at the stretch and fold step. Baking bread at altitude/low humidity is a never-ending experiment, and I will keep baking this bread and taking notes til I get it perfect. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I tried making the Boubasa using Pillsbury AP flour with 10.5% protein. The crust was fantastic, with great color and grigne, and tasted absolutely amazing with a shrimp caeser, but the crumb was dense at the ends of the baguettes. It was airy and swiss cheesey at the center of the stick, but nothing like your picture. I have some T55 flour, about 24 lb, which I’m hoarding. Will the T55 give me a better result? I have to say that no matter how disappointed I am at my results, my family loves whatever comes out of my oven. They just don’t understand why I am not has happy about my bread as they are. 🙁
Hi Linda,
Changing from Pillsbury AP to T55 flour may not, in itself, produce a significant change in crumb structure. The increase in crumb density at the baguettes’ ends that you are seeing suggest that perhaps too much downward pressure is being used while shaping. A more gentle shaping, while still retaining dough surface tension, might be in order.
I followed the recipe almost exactly ( I accidentally added all the water for the autolyse) and the baguettes came out nutty, crispy, and chewy with an open, irregular crumb. Though I seriously have got to work on shaping and scoring- the baguettes ended up deformed, lol.
Thanks for another great recipe-I’ll be trying this again.
Kevin B
Dear Steve!
tks for sharing all this precious knowledge and years of experience.
I did my first baghette today by your formula and it was fantastic!
Almost the same alveoli of your picture!
Keep sharing with everyboddy!
Gabriel!
Sao Paulo – Brazil !
Gabriel,
I’m glad to hear of your success!
Dear Steve.
Can you tell us what are the effects at the baghette dough by leaving it the 21 hours on the refrigerator? And what would be different if we make it by a direct process of fermentation of 6-8hours on the same day?
Thanks again!
Gabriel,
An extended time at lower temperatures allows the amylase greater time to break down the starch into sugars without significant degradation of the gluten structure. The result is a sweeter bread with a nicely caramelized crust.
Hi Steve,
Discovered your blog a couple of months ago, and am enjoying it.
Am about to try the baguette recipe, but have a question:
Have not been able to find (local) T55, T65, or Milanaise flour. (I live in Connecticut.) I do have a fair amount of Italian 00 flour that I use for pizza…could that be used, or should I go to King Arthur AP.
Thanks in advance for any info.
I tried the recipe, and followed it to the letter. The crust was acceptable for a first try, but the crumb was somewhat dense, and chewy. Tasty, but chewy. I have struggled with getting the beautiful open crumb that you showed, and the same issue with ciabatta. Any hints?
Hi Neal,
Although Italian Tipo 00 flour describes the fineness of the flour and doesn’t explicitly give any information on the flour’s protein content, most Tipo 00 flour has a relatively low gluten content. Try using King Arthur Flour AP flour and see if your results improve.
Thanks for getting back to me. Will definitely give it a try.