Baguette

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Prep Time16 10

Total Time16 50

Course: Yeast Bread Recipes and Quick Bread Recipes

Keyword: homemade bread

Servings: baguettes

Author: Sweet Basil

The night before, make the poolish.
In a large mixing bowl, or I prefer plastic container with a lid, combine the ingredients for the poolish.
89 Grams Bread flour, 89 Grams Water, 1 Gram Instant Yeast
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or the lid and let it stand at room temperature for at least 8 hours, but preferably 10-12 hours.

Add the rest of the ingredients for the baguette dough into the bowl with the poolish.
240 Grams Bread flour, 31 Grams All-Purpose Flour, 163 Grams Water, 1 Gram Instant Yeast, 6 Grams Kosher Salt
I put the container on my scale and then press tare and repeat after each ingredient so I can just weigh in grams.
Stir until well combined using your hand to stir and squeeze the dough until it comes together. Place the lid or more plastic wrap on and set aside for 30 minutes.

After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, you will do a series of three stretch and folds with the dough.
I watched this video to learn.
With the dough still in the bowl, lightly dampen your hand with water so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Pull on one side of the dough out to the side and stretch it up and then fold it down over the top of the dough.
Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and do the same with the next side.
Do this again until you have stretched all four sides of the dough up and over on itself.
Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 more minutes.
Repeat for two more rounds: Stretch and fold the dough for the second round. Cover and let rest for 30 more minutes.
Stretch and fold for the third round. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 more minutes. This will take a two hour process from when the dough is mixed to when it is ready to be shaped. Four 30 minute resting periods with three stretch and folds in between.

While the dough is resting the last time, prepare the cloth and ovens.
Position one oven rack in the very bottom position in the oven and another rack in the middle position. Place a cast iron skillet or heatproof pan on the bottom rack and a baking stone (our preferred way or a steal) baking steal, or a sheet pan turned upside down on the middle rack.
Preheat your oven to 500 F with these items in the oven for 1 hour.
Lightly flour a baker's couche or a linen towel to let your shaped dough rise on. Finally, prepare a pizza peel or an unrimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

Using a dough scraper or knife, cut the dough into two pieces. Do not tear it!
On a very lightly floured surface, press one piece of dough out into a rectangle and very gently, easily stretch the short ends out. Fold each short end into the center to barely touch and press down with your fingertips to seal.
Next, fold each long end into the center and press with your fingertips to seal, creating a seam down the length of the dough. Set the dough aside and repeat this process with the second piece. Cover the pieces of dough with plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.

With the seam side up, press the first piece of dough into a thin rectangle by starting at the top left edge and folding down the dough about 1/2" and pinching to seal it with your fingertips, working your way across the top. Repeat this process, continuing to fold down on the dough and sealing to create a tight log. Once you have a thin, tight log, turn it seam side down. Using both hands, roll the dough on the counter-top, working it into a long thin snake shape. Move the piece of dough to your prepared towel or baker's couche. Scoot the towel or couche up on both sides of the baguette to create folds to hold the dough's shape like a hammock of dough. Repeat this process with the second piece of dough.

Cover the pieces of dough with plastic wrap and let them rest for 45-60 minutes until doubled in size.

Place a small cutting board right beside one of the baguettes. Gently pull up on the towel to flip the baguette over onto the board. Move the baguette over to the parchment lined pizza peel or unrimmed baking sheet. Gently flip the baguette back onto the parchment paper, so that the seam side is down once again. Repeat with the second baguette. Using a very sharp knife, cut 4-5 slashes in the top of the baguettes to allow the bread to expand and grow while baking.

Fill a small bowl with 2 cups of ice cubes. Quickly open the oven and gently slide the whole piece of parchment paper with the baguettes onto the preheated baking stone. Moving very quickly pour the ice cubes into the preheated skillet under the stone on the bottom rack and immediately shut the oven door. Lower the oven temperature down to 475 F. Bake for about 25-40 minutes or until dark as baguettes should have a very dark crust. Begin checking them at 25 minutes to decide on the color you want.

Cool completely, place in a plastic storage bag or wrap in foil to store. Baguettes will keep for 2-3 days.