Take Two: Bread, French, Pate Fermentee, Lean Dough

So I did what I set out to do. I made pate fermentee last Sunday afternoon. I watched the lil baby dough bolus grow for three days. I planned on bringing freshly baked loaves into work, but my coworkers decided to work from home. I ended up giving one baguette away to the neighbors, which I heard inhaled it in ten minutes. That's the problem with bread; it's damn delicious and goes down way too easy. 

One thing I failed to mention was that you really do need to measure the temp of the water, since the pate fermentee is coming from the refrigerator. 

 1. Pate fermentee (454 grams) with the King Arthur Bread Flour, salt, and yeast. I dumped the water in after I took the picture. I weighed out the pate fermentee, but it turns out you can use really any amount, considering it already has the yeast, water and salt it needed. I ended up with over two pounds of bread after the double bake load, so I'd probably make less next time...not that I really dislike having ten plus loaves of bread...it's just I don't need all that!

2. Here's the glorious dough ball going for a spin in the KitchenAid. Make sure the pin in your mixer is tight, or you'll have the mixer gyrating and flour flying everywhere.

  

3. Here's the majestic dough ball after the first stretch and fold. Oh my, how bouncy thy are. I'm going to skip over the second batch story, where I burst into tears because I added too much water to the shaggy dough. Let's just say I was a mess, and could have really used the bench scrape I ordered, which arrived one day too late as well. 

4. Here are the baguettes proving. I happened to get my linen couche the day after making these. I also got a banneton proving backed as well. I'll be reviewing these items, with accompanying photos, in a separate post. Instead of a bread lame, I used a serrated knife. Again, I didn't get ears or even definition really. Maybe my angle was off? 

5. Here is the finished product. Delicious! I've frozen some of the loaves, including the boule you see in the bottom left.