I don’t understand why these never want to develop a good color. A couple days ago I took a portion of pizza dough out of the freezer and made a baguette – that didn’t develop any color either (also, it was underproofed), and I used steam for that one. No steam for this one. I like the interior. I added diastatic malt powder to the dough this time, which is supposed to help with color too. Perhaps it’s because there’s olive oil in the dough. None of the other baguettes I’ve made had oil/butter. Proofed on a couche (pastry cloth) for a couple hours. Baked at 450°F for 25 minutes.

Next time I’ll try baking it with the baguette pan on a sheet (hopefully the bottom won’t get too dark that way) and I’ll try a steam tray again.