My hands and wrists don’t do well in cold weather.
I try to look after them, but as my mum pointed out recently, they do quite a lot of work. Lately I’ve had some RSI in my wrists, my knuckles are a bit swollen, and because it’s winter, my skin has started to dry and crack. I guess it’s just part of getting older.
Bread baking, however, must continue! Lately I’ve been making my friend Emilie’s twisty baguettes because I can prep the dough with a spatula, which means I don’t have to keep washing my hands in cold water. The only tricky part is shaping the baguettes – the high hydration dough can be sticky to handle. The secret is lots of fine semolina, a gentle touch and…learning to appreciate the wonkiness.
Here’s my spin on the formula, which substitutes a mix of plain and bakers flour for the American all-purpose that Em recommends (our local plain flour is lower in protein than the US equivalent).
- 100g ripe sourdough starter
- 720g cool water
- 440g plain flour
- 440g baker/bread flour
- 18g fine sea salt
- fine semolina for dusting
1. The night before: combine all the ingredients except the semolina in a large wide mixing bowl. Stir them together with a silicon spatula until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and you’re left with a shaggy dough. Cover and leave to rest for an hour.
2. Uncover and using your spatula, scrape down the side of the bowl, lift up some of the dough and fold it into the centre. Turn the bowl a little and repeat until you’ve formed a smooth ball. Cover and allow to prove overnight. Coat your hands with barrier cream, pop on some cotton gloves, and go to bed. (Ok, that bit is optional.)
3. When the dough has doubled in size (it can take 12 – 18 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is), dust a clean bench with a generous amount of fine semolina. Line two oven trays with teflon sheets or parchment paper, and dust them with semolina. Preheat your oven to 220C with fan.
4. Scrape the dough on to the bench and using a scraper and a gentle touch, fold it in half so that both the top and bottom are coated in semolina (“like a book”, Em says). Using your scraper, cut the dough in half, and then into three short logs.
5. Now this bit can be a little tricky – roll each log over in fine semolina, stretching and extending it as you go. Gentle gentle – you just want to get it well coated and roughly baguette shaped. Transfer the log, stretching a bit more as you go, to the dusted oven tray and repeat with the remaining five logs.
6. Starting in the middle of each log, gently twist the dough – first to one end, then to the other. Cover the shaped dough with clean tea towels and let them prove briefly while the oven heats up.
7. Spritz the top of the baguettes with water (no need to slash), then bake them in the preheated oven for a total of 25 – 30 minutes, rotating halfway through. Allow to cool on a wire rack before eating.
Em’s clever twisting technique produces the lovely holey crumb of a traditional baguette, without the detailed shaping and slashing. I’ve found that these keep well for up to three days if tightly wrapped in a large beeswax wrap – any leftovers make wonderful croutons and garlic bread.
This recipe comes from Emilie’s fabulous book, Artisan Sourdough Made Simple. If you haven’t already bought a copy, you’re missing out on some amazing bakes!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
The twisting is a neat technique. I got special curved perforated trays so I could bake baguettes in home oven, but this is much simpler. I hadn’t realised US all purpose flour had higher protein, but have always used a mix where it is specified, just because protein in Oz plain flour seemed too low. Except for enriched sweet doughs, which cook at a lower temperature, and the protein content seems to be less critical for success.
You can see my experiments @ #kareylea on Instagram.
You make it look so simple. I always end up with half a loaf’s worth of dough all over my hands and workbench.
Have you read https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/12/665655220/sourdough-hands-how-bakers-and-bread-are-a-microbial-match? about sourdough bakers’ hands matching their dough?
Thinking of you tucked up in bed wearing your cotton gloves :)
Something constantly gets in the way of beginning to bake sourdough for me, and I really do need to get started. I stopped eating yeasted bread about 3 months ago, eating sourdough instead, and my tummy is incredibly grateful. I love the substance, the chewy crust, the fact that it keeps well, and best of all, the amazing toast! I’d probably never make baguettes because I love a big slice, but I really appreciate the clever cook’s imagination which devised this hand-saving process.
I have a longtime sensitivity to moulds, and possibly linked… candida, psoriasis… I’ve been using a spatula for a while as I noticed what I thought maybe what was my imagination might be nail infections, candida, psoriasis which appeared worse after handling sourdough… There are no rules… only work-arounds. And they have cleared up. Do what you’ve got to do to keep doing what you want to do ♡
I sometime use a very thin plastic glove if I think my fingers are going to split from working with starter. To save waste I get away with just one hand and with a good rinse I can re-use a few times. I don’t do it all the time and I have a large silicon spatula bought vis Amazon from the ethical store which I also use a lot to save my hands. Its brilliant. Can send the link if it helps.
Perfect, will do this tomorrow…….gotta go feed my ‘beast :)
I’m trying to work out why I haven’t made these yet. Em’s book is fabulous – I’m so glad you recommended it 😁
Yum. They look delicious. I pity your poor chapped, cracked hands. I have that same problem when winter comes to the northern hemisphere.
Just thought you might like to know……. If you fingers are splitting around nails especially then you might have an autoimmune problem called “mechanic Hands “. It’s painful and treatable…. Thanks for the great recipes
Thanks Meg. It only happens when I cut my nails too short. The dermatologist gave me eulactol cream for it – works a treat. Keeping them out of cold water in winter makes a huge difference too! :)
I have made these wonderful baguettes from Emilie’s recipe! I’ll have to check out the flour substitutions you’re recommending and see what I think. :-) With your starter and tutelage, and then introducing me to Emilie’s book, I’d have to go some to keep up with you, but my family and friends are sure glad they know me. LOL!
Celia, I recently purchased Emilie’s book and I just love it.
Ooh, that bread looks lovely. I am in the process of having my kitchen demolished but one day I’ll have a go! I always have stiff, swollen finger joints in the winter. This year I massaged a mix of frankincense EO and jojoba oil into my hands and it really helped. Also my knitting and spinning group swears by O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Cream. We’re all converts! Love the blog x
Those baguettes look scrumptious. Now about your poor hands…I find that rubbing them with plain old Vaseline really helps, just rub it into each split at night. Failing that a trip to the tropics and the splits will magically disappear 😉
Great work – you’re an innovator, that’s for sure. Not sure if I mentioned that I have a friend in Sydney who is a fledgling sourdough baker so I shared your blog and some particular posts to point him in the right direction. He was very thankful. xxx
Ooh, Have been a bit nervous of trying her baguette recipe, so will now follow your method!
I love baguettes and have been meaning to find a recipe! Thanks so much for sharing. :)
I made these baguettes today and they are absolutely wonderful! So easy, so delicious with perfect texture. I’d tried another more time/labor intensive recipe and had poor results. Should have known these would work beautifully – I switched to your overnight sourdough bread within the last year and that is a fabulous recipe as well – and had tried several other methods for a good loaf of artisan sourdough bread. Thank you for making sourdough baking so approachable and easy!