Jeff Hemminger

For Parth — My Baguette Recipe

Ingredients

For the Poolish

  • 100 g flour choose wisely1
  • 0.5 g yeast choose wisely2
  • 100 g water, room temperature

For the Dough

  • 300 g flour
  • 170 g water
  • 7 g salt
  • 2 g yeast

Prerequisite baking tools

  • Couche (linen proofing cloth)
  • Bread pan
  • Bread lame
  • Mixing bowls
  • Bowl covers (or plastic wrap)

Make the Poolish

Add yeast and mix with flour, then add water and combine in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 8–12 hours. The yeast will rise slowly, so account for this with the bowl you choose. When ready it should look bubbly and smell a bit like sweet beer.

Prepare the Dough

  • Mix the flour, yeast, and salt.
  • Add the water and poolish.
  • Combine.

Rest and Fold

Repeat 4× (total 2 hours): let rest 30 minutes, then fold the dough. Instead of kneading, every 30 minutes reach under the dough, pull it up, and fold it over itself.

Divide

Break the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each into a rough log shape. Let rest 15 minutes.

Shape

Roll into baguette shape (long cylinders). Dust flour onto the linen couche and add the dough. Let rise in the couche for 45–60 minutes.

Bake

  • Preheat the oven with the bread pan inside to 250 °C (as high as it goes).
  • Take the hot bread pan out and add the dough.
  • Score the dough with the lame — 3 to 5 quick, overlapping slashes.
  • Put it in the oven and add 4 ice cubes to the bottom of the oven.
  • Bake 15–20 minutes until deep, golden mahogany color.
  • Optional: if your oven will go higher, give it 10 minutes at high heat, then reduce for 5–6 minutes more.

Post-bake

  • Remove from oven.
  • Remove bread from the hot pan, place on a wire rack so it has air on all sides.
  • Let it rest 30 minutes before serving; otherwise the crumb will be gummy.

Footnotes:

1

The choice of flour is an extremely important first step. You want a French-system T55 flour. This impacts water absorption, fermentation speed, flavor, and texture. You can approximate it by mixing flours. In the USA, King Arthur bread flour is good in that it doesn’t contain the additives many industrial flours do, but it still has higher protein content than artisanal baguette flour — cake flour can be added to compensate. With Japanese flour, I mix bread flour to cake flour 70/30.

2

Instant Dry Yeast. Baguettes have very little sugar, so you must use a yeast specifically for low-sugar / lean dough. Avoid yeast intended for sweet breads like brioche.