Baguette bake in ceramic baker version 4

This is the 4th installment in the continuing saga of trying to bake baguette using the Emil-Henry ceramic baguette baker. I think this time, it came out best among the 4 tries. Again, I made sure we only used 3 cups of flour in total, otherwise the baguettes become too large and fuse together.  The below is when it came out of the oven. The center portions of each baguette still stuck to the baker.

So we decided to let them cool before trying to remove them. Although, even then, we had to use a small spatula to “encourage” them to give up their stronghold on the baker. We were finally able to take them out without breaking the crust (below).

Here is the summary of tips for using the Emil-Henry ceramic baguette baker.
1. The total amount of flour is 3 cups. In our case we used a biga starter (1 cup bread flour, 1 cup buttermilk and 1/8 tsp instant yeast, let it ferment overnight). I added 2 cups more of bread flour). This time I had to add a bit more water.
2. Baked 25 minutes450F with lid on and an additional 10 minutes with the lid off. The additional 5 minutes of baking without the lid on made the crust more brown and harder. The harder crust appeared to help in removing  he baguette without breaking the crust.
3. Let it cool down before removing the baguette.
4. As suggested by a friend, I dusted the baker with cornmeal. I am not sure whether this helped or not. The cornmeal did not stay in the area that stuck the most since the baguettes are not flat.

In any case, we had the best baguette so far without a broken crust. Because of the slightly longer baking time, the crust was browner and a bit harder than in the previous tries. Nonetheless it tasted really good and the crust was just nicely crunchy not too thick or hard. They should have included better instructions with the baker. It should not be this difficult but, in the end, you cannot beat the crust this baker produces

Addendum (10/26/2022)

Despite all the tips described above, the next time I made baguette the center baguette stuck to the two on either side. So, this time, I made only two baguettes and left the center slot empty. This worked much better. There was some minor sticking but the baguettes came off the baker with intact crust. Finally perfection has been achieved. 

Ingredients for two mini-baguettes

2 cups bread flour

1 cup water 

1 tsp active yeast

1 tsp salt

Bake 450F with the lid on for 25 minutes and with the lid off for 5 minutes.