Baguettes - Another try

I tried some baguettes again. This time I used a recipe from The Bread Bible , given to me by my brother-in-law and his wife. An excellent book and I plan to bake as many recipes as I can from it over the summer. This recipe did not call for a Poolish or starter like the King Arthur recipe did that I used last time. So it was quicker to make. It also called for more yeast - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons - than the other recipe. So it rose extremely well.
The other change I made was that I used 6 cups of King Arthur unbleached four rather than 3 cups of cake flour and three cups of regular flour. The weather was extremely hot and muggy. The weather report said the humidity had dropped, but I didn't feel it. But when the temp is 85 and the humidity is say 80% rather than 95%, what really is the difference? I certainly can't feel as I sit, sweat dripping down my back and chest.
The bread tasted fine, it didn't have the tang that the King Arthur recipe did or the air pockets, so I prefer the taste of the King Arthur recipe better.

My biggest problem baking this getting the dough rising in a baguette pan:

onto the extremely hot stone (450 degrees) in the oven without destroying the logs or my hands. The King Arthur blog suggests letting the baguettes rise in cotton cloth dusted with flour, a couche, like they do in France. But I am still not sure how to get them from the cloth to the extremely hot stone without creating a fire. I tried using the dull side of a cleaver and my hands, which worked okay, definitely not ideal.

Finally, I put ice cubes and then water on a paella pan to get the steam. Next time I will mist the dough.