SC - Bread and Rise time

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Your baker is from the French school and the ability to produce that "web
like airiness" is a demonstration of mastery.  In fact, the greater crust to
empty center, the greater the master.  The bread is usually prepared as a
baguette, a loaf 2 to 4 feet long about 3 inches in diameter.  It is best
eaten fresh from the oven, as the best of these loaves will go stale in
about 4 hours.  Eat plain or with butter and preserves.  All those big air
pockets hold more filling than the nice even aeration of a regular loaf.  

The baguette works fine as a sandwich loaf split down the center as you
would for a sub.  My local French bakery and deli makes a delightful
baguette which is airy, but still has enough crumb to keep it usable for
about a day, which is better for US restaurant use.

The secret to making these baguettes is strong bread flour for long gluten
strands and a high potency brewer's yeast (dry active baker's yeast) to get
the required aeration.  And lots of practice.  I think there may be a little
more to it, since not all licensed French bakers can produce the true
masterpiece of a crust filled with air.  Interestingly, the baguette is
probably the reason the French dropped their regulations about making bread
only with a levain.  You can not normally get the necessary level of
activity from a sourdough.

For what passes for home baking in the US, the 16-24 hour rise is indeed too
long.  However, artisan bakers use less yeast and longer rises, to produce
better flavor and for specific effects.  In the case of French breads other
than sourdough, they are often raised in a refrigerated rising cabinet to
extend the rise times without letting the dough slump.  I don't know that
this is the case with the baguettes, but if the baker trained in France,
there is a good chance he uses a cool rise.

I tried my hand at baguettes a number of years ago and found my expertise
not up to the task.  My expertise and patience have improved since then, so
I'm considering seeing if I can do better.

Bear

> We had a new spiffy bakery open by us and today we went there for lunch.
> A nice assortment of breads all fresh baked, with sandwiches and salads
> and
> stuff.
> But what caught my interest was that they bragged that they  let their
> bread
> rise for 16-24 hours to achieve their "web like airiness."
> sure the bread i got is airy there is a whole in the center of the loaf
> about the size of a half doller, running through  half the loaf, not sure
> i
> could make Sandwiches with it.. But Is such a long rise time good? I mean,
> why? Just wondering what opinion on it is. I haven't done bread making in
> ages, maybe i should get going on it again.
> 
> In service
> Zoe
> 
> 
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