Baguette

Ingredients

Poolish

• 150 gT65 or strong white flour
• 150 mlwater at 20°C (70°F)
• 0.3 gfresh yeast, a crumb the size of a grain of rice

Dough

• 350 gT65 French bread flour
• 200 mlwater at 18°C (65°F), plus 20 ml to adjust
• all of the poolish
• 10 gfine sea salt
• 2 gfresh yeast

To bake

• rice flour or fine semolina, for dusting
• a linen couche and a baking stone or heavy steel tray

Directions

1. The night before, whisk the poolish flour, water and crumb of yeast into a loose batter, cover and leave 12–16 hours at 18–20°C (65–70°F) until it is domed, honeycombed with bubbles and just beginning to sink in the middle.
2. Mix the poolish with the dough flour and 200 ml water into a shaggy mass, with no salt and no yeast yet, and rest 45 minutes. This autolyse hydrates the flour and halves the work later.
3. Add the salt and yeast and work the dough by folding it over on itself for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic and it pulls cleanly from the bowl. It should stay soft and slightly slack, around 70 percent hydration.
4. Bulk-ferment 2 hours at room temperature, giving a set of stretch-and-folds every 30 minutes for the first 90 minutes. It should roughly double and feel airy and alive.
5. Turn out gently onto a floured surface, divide into three pieces of about 350 g and pre-shape each into a loose cylinder without pressing out the gas. Rest 20 minutes under a cloth.
6. Shape each one: flatten to a rectangle, fold the top third down and seal with the heel of your hand, repeat, then roll from the middle outwards to about 55 cm, tapering the ends into points.
7. Lay them seam-side up in the folds of a heavily floured couche and prove 45–75 minutes, until a floured finger pressed into the flank springs back slowly and leaves a faint dent.
8. Heat the oven to 250°C (475°F) with the stone in place and a cast-iron tray on the floor, for at least 45 minutes.
9. Roll the baguettes seam-side down onto a peel and slash with a blade held almost flat, at about 20 degrees, in three or five overlapping cuts running nearly along the length. Load them, throw a cup of water into the hot tray and shut the door immediately.
10. Bake 12 minutes with steam, then vent the oven and bake 10–13 minutes more until deep amber and the slashes have burst open into raised ears. Cool on a rack, where a good baguette crackles audibly as it contracts.

Technique

• By French law a baguette de tradition contains nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast. All of the flavour comes from long, cool fermentation, which is why the overnight poolish matters.
• The slash is a technique rather than a decoration. Held flat and shallow it lifts a flap of dough that opens into an ear; cut straight down and the loaf splits sideways and stays flat.
• Steam for the first half of the bake keeps the crust soft long enough for the loaf to expand, and it must then be vented so the crust can dry and crisp.
• A baguette peaks about two hours out of the oven and is stale by evening, which is why the French buy them twice a day.

Substitutions

• No T65: use strong white bread flour cut with 10 percent plain flour to soften it slightly, accepting a marginally less creamy crumb.
• Instant dried yeast can replace fresh at one third of the weight.

Variations

• Baguette de campagne, made with 15 percent wholemeal or rye flour for a darker, earthier crumb.
• Ficelle, the same dough at half the weight, giving a thinner loaf that is almost all crust.

History

The long loaf spread in 1920s Paris, helped by a 1919 law barring bakers from working before four in the morning; UNESCO listed the craft in 2022.

Frequently asked questions

What is Baguette?

Baguette is a bread & pastry from France: crackling-crusted long wheat loaf bought fresh daily. The long loaf spread in 1920s Paris, helped by a 1919 law barring bakers from working before four in the morning; UNESCO listed the craft in 2022.

How long does Baguette take to make?

Baguette takes 40 min of preparation and 20 hr including overnight poolish of cooking. The recipe makes 3 baguettes. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Baguette?

Yes, within limits. No T65: use strong white bread flour cut with 10 percent plain flour to soften it slightly, accepting a marginally less creamy crumb. Instant dried yeast can replace fresh at one third of the weight.

What is the most important thing to get right in Baguette?

By French law a baguette de tradition contains nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast. All of the flavour comes from long, cool fermentation, which is why the overnight poolish matters.