I saw a great video on Instagram one day from @sometimefoods. Abigail, the owner of that account, took a nicely rested batard dough and split it into two torpedo loaves with a bench knife. They were beautiful. Since then, my life–well my baking, at least–has been different.
After cutting, a simple turn of the dough to place the wet side down is all that's needed to get a pair on the tray, ready to bake. I like to cut the dough on the work surface, slide the dough onto the mat, and then slide the mat onto the tray. If you cut the loaf on the mat, just be careful not to damage the silicone.
While the loaves Abigail shared were a gluten-free recipe (that's her jam) I've taken to making torpedos with my rye and wheat sourdough. This splits a 500g flour weight loaf in two, resulting in a smaller loaf that is perfect for eating in a single day. Well, perfect for our household, anyway.
So, if you’re like me and you bake a lot of batards, you might like the flexibility that this technique offers. Prep batards but wake up in the mood for something a little different? Torpedo those plans!
