#26: Poolish Baguettes

No, poolish is not a misspelling of Polish.  Instead it's "poolish", as in "made using a poolish."  A "poolish" is a very wet, pancake-batter-consistency pre-dough that ferments for three to four hours before being popped into the refrigerator overnight.  The final dough aslo takes some time, what with a couple two-hour fermentation periods in addition to proofing after shaping.  However, since the dough was raising rapidly in our 85-degree weather, I reduced the fermentation periods a bit.  Bake time is pretty brief, generally taking only 15 minutes which I found I needed to extend to 20, probably since the baking stone wasn't as hot as it should have been.

I decided to go risky by doubling the batch and ended up with six beautiful baguettes, three of which we promptly devoured at dinner along with the delicious BBQ'd pork that Rachel made.  I doubt the other three loaves will live to see another sunset.  The dough called for sifted whole wheat flour and a happy bi-product is a little bit of wheat bran that will go into my attempt on #20, Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire.  Stay tuned.

As with the Pugliese, I used a serrated knife to score the loaves and I'm so pleased with the effect that I think I'm going to permanently shelve the lame until I learn how to use it properly.

Last week I mentioned that I was going to start a sourdough starter, but alas, time got the better of me and I didn't get around to it until Tuesday, at which point I was a day too late to get the starter ready for the following weekend.  I think I'm going to put my sourdough dreams on hold an additional week and take it up at the end of this month.  As with #20, stay tuned.