summary: making baguettes; SuperPeel works fabulously; what happens when oven is too hot?;

The SuperPeel is super! No photographic proof, once again. You’ll have to take my word for it.

I made two baguettes today. Well, almost….

The shaped baguettes were in the fridge overnight. I got them out and put them on the counter to bring them up to room temperature. I turned the oven to 450F. Then using my new superpeel – Wow!!! Even the slackest dough gets picked up and put onto the hot stone with NO difficulty.

Oops! I didn’t plan ahead and couldn’t fit the second loaf on the stone. So I waited 10 minutes and moved the first loaf to the back of the stone.

In those 10 minutes, the second loaf had really puddled out. I wasn’t completely convinced that it would move….

Wow!!! This superpeel really is super. Once again, with zero difficulty and zero flour on the superpeel cloth OR under the shaped baguett, the sloppy thing was picked up and put onto the hot stone.

I set the timer for 10 minutes more. About 2 minutes later, WHAT’S GOING ON?!!??? Why does it smell like burning bread?!

AUGH I forgot to turn oven down!!

I removed the first loaf that was just starting to get darker than it should and turned the oven down to 400F. No further problems.

The first loaf was round and compact – looking just like a baguette but without the slashes (I didn’t dare slash them. The dough was VERY slack).

The second loaf was more like ciabatta – beautiful crust; beautiful crumb.

We haven’t tasted the first loaf but we completely demolished the ciabatta-like one with butter, red currant jelly and coffee (yes, of course it was made in our new-to-us Vesuviana coffee maker). The bread was light and airy with a wonderfully chewy crust.

Oh my!! Isn’t freshly baked bread wonderful?

The only thing I’d change would be to have apricot jam instead of red currant jelly. Remind me to ask when I should be looking for apricots when I go to the farmers’ market this week.

Question: does a hotter oven make a shaped loaf hold its shape? Or did the second loaf act differently because it was somewhat overrisen?