Suggestions to improve this bread (which is already pretty good)

Question

I want the crust crisper, the crumb chewier and less dense. The recipe is 3 3/4 c bread flour, 2 tsp yeast, 2 tsp salt, 1.5 c water. Knead by hook for 5 minutes, by hand for 2. First rise 90 minutes, form baguettes, second rise 90 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees on a pre-heated steel for 20 minutes, with a half cup water thrown on the oven floor to make steam. What should I do differently to get the result I want? Thanks in advance!

Answer

Make sure you knead long enough, test by the window pane test:

http://www.thekitchn.com/bakers-techniques-how-to-do-th-70784

Make sure it's rested enough but not too much by poking your finger into it. If the indent remains, it's proofed. This is the best picture:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2014/06/20/the-bread-also-rises/

I bake at 450 and think it gives a crisper crust. Also, let it cool to room temp before slicing (this is the most challenging part for me!). I think your loaves look great, btw. Nice job!

BTW, I wanted to add that other than Peter Reinhart's BBA recipe, I love this one for the pictorials along. Both begin w/ a starter.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2011/07/13/baguettes-do-try-this-at-home/

Answer

You might try reducing the salt. Salt inhibits yeast and this should make the bread a bit lighter.

Answer

Definitely more water. The recipe you listed is only around 63% hydration, depending on how heavy your cups of flour are. Adding another quarter cup of water would bring it up to the 70-75% hydration level, which will definitely be less dense. 

Also, this recipe calls for a LOT of yeast, hence the quick rising times. A longer rise with less yeast will create a lighter texture as well (larger, more irregular bubbles). If you don't mind waiting a little longer for your bread to be done, I would cut the yeast in half and double the proofing time (or better yet, cut the yeast down to a quarter teaspoon and let it bulk ferment overnight).

Answer

Thanks, all, for this very useful advice. I will try one thing at a time - more water, less yeast/longer rise, higher baking temperature, less salt. And I'll also start giving away loaves, because I cannot possibly eat all this bread.

I chose this particular recipe because it didn't require starter or an overnight ferment. I see now that that might be a disadvantage. Also, I recently switched from a baking stone to a baking steel, and I'm having a little trouble getting adjusted to it - the pitas I baked at 500 on the stone get way too crisp at that temperature on the steel. 

@chowser - What's the downside of cutting the bread before it cools? I don't wait to cut the first loaf, but the second one stays intact. And I can't discern a difference between the two.

Answer

What brand of bread flour?

Answer

While I can sort of understand the reasoning behind bumping up the water for no knead bread, there's absolute no reason whatsoever, imo, to add more water to this recipe. More water does NOT automatically produce a lighter loaf.

Another poster said this is 63% hydration. Based on this page here:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/measuring.html

stating that a cup of flour weighs 4.25 ounces (with obvious variations depending on how you're measuring it), your hydration comes to 75%, not 63%. For bread flour, I'd probably recommend going down a little bit in water, not up.

That aside, the goals you're describing are basically the path to better bread- especially the volume. Volume is basically the baker's holy grail.

I talked about this in another thread recently, but what you're working with is a beginner's recipe, and, while the results look pretty good, if you want better, you need to step up to an intermediate approach.

That includes:

1. Weighing your ingredients. Get a scale, and, at a minimum, measure your flour and water by weight.

2. Moving away from a huge yeast quantity. Beginner's just add a whole mess of yeast to dough, let it double (and then sometimes let it double again) and then just bake it up. As you move into intermediate bread making, you want to get into the habit of using just enough yeast- not too little and not too much, and let it proof considerably longer.

3. Knead according to how the dough looks, not by time. I'm not a big of fan of the window pane test because it takes the dough to peak gluten development, and, if you're doing an overnight ferment (which you should), extended fermentation will develop a load of gluten on it's own. In other words, ferment overnight, and don't take the dough to window pane during kneading. A good rule of thumb for kneading, imo, is somewhere between smooth and cottage cheesey- but closer to smooth.

4. Cold ferment. That's where the flavor happens. I find it also aid texture by causing the gluten to be a bit more extensible. I also have a working theory that cold fermentation helps to dissolve more CO2 into the dough. More CO2 = greater volume during baking.

Other than adopting more intermediate methods, I see one aspect of your recipe that needs adjustment. Steel is counterindicated for bread, because it's high conductivity bakes the bottom of the bread too quickly, and, if you compensate and turn the oven down, the top of the loaf will bake too slowly. Steel throws everything out of balance. Use the steel for pizza (with the broiler), and use a stone for baking.

Answer

I agree with weighing the ingredients and adjusting the water for humidity levels in your home/area. You do that by look and feel, so it's a learning curve.

I use the recipe from "Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast" and get the airy look to the crumb, while it still having some chew. It uses AP flour, a biga, and long ferment. I give them a spray of warm water prior to putting them in the oven. Makes great artisan type bread and it's wonderful for pizza dough. If you're looking for more of a baguette type of bread, they bake the heck out of those loafs. They are very dark brown, compared to yours.

Your bread looks great, but more along the lines of a sandwich bread texture with the tight crumb. If you want more of an open crumb, it won't be a quick process.

Bread freezes beautifully, and the recipe I use yields either 2 large loafs, boules, or several smaller ones. I bake it all up and freeze or bake over the week. The flavor really takes off with the long ferment in the fridge. If you have room, you can shape them and hold in the fridge until the day you bake. I just keep it in the tub. After thawing, I rub water over the crust and heat wrapped in foil. Brings the crispy crust back.

I'm a novice bread baker, so not much to offer. I was just surprised that you were using bread flour and had them rise for so long. I go by how it looks (double/triple in size) and time varies based on ambient temp. I also bake at 500, although pizza I do at 550.

Answer

Woot! I am 85% happy with my latest effort, and thanks to all for your help. I followed this recipe from the King Arthur website (which uses a starter, as scott123 recommended), and measured by weight rather than volume.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-baguettes-and-stuffed-baguettes-recipe

I deviated from the recipe slightly in that the first rise was closer to 5 hours than 3, but otherwise I was slavish in my adherence. Et voila! Not too shabby.

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Suggestions to improve this bread (which is already pretty good)

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