Hamelman's Vermont sourdough baguettes

We are approaching French baguette nirvana
The French baguette so simple such a table staple. This humble bread is one of, if not the most difficult of the French bread's to master. Alas, baking just a few baguettes only a few times a year is not conducive to mastering the techniques required. It was necessary to take inventory of my recent bakes. On the advice of my friend Alfonso, I took a step back and lowered the hydration for this bake to 65%. Also under the tutelage of Alfonso, I opted for a tried and true formula, Hamelman's Vermont sourdough. The formula was scaled to yield 1200 grams of dough. Even adding 1% bowl residue allowance, I came up short, not exactly sure why I ended with only a minuscule amount of bowl residue. Not a huge deal, just curious. The actual yield, was three baguettes @ 395 grams, instead of 400 grams.
The photograph of the finished loaves revealed that my slashes needed to be at a more severe angle along the length of the loaf. That is an easy fix next time.

Pre-shaped and resting peacefully

Guardedly optimistic of a good outcome. I am pretty happy with the pre-shape and shaping step. I feel like I pulled the skin plenty tight in the pre-shape step. The 15 min. rest made the final shape and roll go very smooth. Tomorrow I need to up my slashing game and find a wat to give these bad boys a nice steam bath. For now, back into the cooler. T Minus 14 hrs. till bake. Smile...

A visual examination reveled the baguettes are holding an indent. This is it, the end game!

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I was hoping for a little more air. I think my dull bread knife may be part of the issue. All and all, I am very happy with this bake. I now have a good result to continue to build on!