Because the dough that I made this morning seems to be stuck to everything.
I've made baguettes from this recipe (from The Professional Pastry Chef) a couple of times before -- once a full recipe and the second time a "small batch" version and I just don't remember. The full batch recipe makes an extraordinary amount of dough as it calls for nearly 5 pounds of flour and 6 cups of water. It's certainly too much to fit into my mixer, but for whatever crazy reason, I try to make it fit anyway. Flour flies everywhere, a watery yeast mixture sloshes across the counter. But, I got it mixed together, kneaded to a point where it looked like dough, and let it rest and rise for an hour and a half.
Dividing and pounding the dough into "torpedo shaped" loaves proves to be a challenge, however. The dough sticks everywhere -- on my hands, on the table, on the scale, in the bowl. A generous dose of flour thrown on the table doesn't seem to help. It only adds another fine layer of flour to the already dusted floor. I just can't clean up more sticky dough right now. So, I escaped the kitchen and my little 8-10 oz blobs of dough sitting in piles of flour on the table. Maybe (hopefully) when I return after their (and my) rest, they will be a more cooperative.
I got the loaves shaped without too much trouble, but I don't think they rose enough before I put them into the oven. After baking at 450 degrees for about 18 minutes, they were still an odd color -- very pale -- and the crust wasn't very crunchy. They taste pretty good, especially when toasted, but they aren't my best work.
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