BaguetteRecipe

1. 1.The night before bake day, mix the poolish ingredients in a quart container: 100g flour, 100g warm water (~75°F / 24°C), and about 0.4g (⅛ teaspoon) of instant yeast.
2. 2.Stir to a smooth pancake batter. No dry flour visible.
3. 3.Cover loosely and leave on the counter.

Ready when the surface is domed and bubbly, smelling yeasty-sweet. If it has collapsed back when you check it in the morning, it overproofed. Start fresh.

1. 1.Add the remaining flour, water, salt, and yeast to the poolish in your mixing bowl.
2. 2.Mix by hand or with a stand mixer paddle on low until no dry flour remains, about 3 minutes. The dough will look shaggy and rough.
3. 3.Cover and let rest 20 minutes. This fraisage lets the flour finish hydrating and the dough relaxes for easier handling.

Technically a fermentolyse (everything mixed, then rest), not a pure autolyse (which defers salt + yeast). Both work; the fermentolyse is faster and simpler for poolish recipes where the yeast is already active in the pre-ferment.

1. 1.Do one set of stretch and fold in the bowl: grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, fold it over the middle. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat 4 times.
2. 2.Cover and wait 30 minutes.
3. 3.Repeat the stretch and fold set every 30 minutes. Three more sets, four total. After the last set the dough should be smoother and hold a soft dome.
4. 4.After the last fold, let the dough rest until it has grown by about 50% and feels airy when nudged.

Watch the dough, not the clock. A cool kitchen needs longer; a warm one cuts the time in half.

1. 1.Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and divide into 3 equal pieces (about 280g each).
2. 2.Pre-shape each piece into a loose log. Flatten gently, fold the top third down, fold the bottom third up, seal lightly. Let rest seam-side-down, covered, 15 minutes.
3. 3.Final shape: flatten one log gently, fold and seal end-to-end, then roll under your palms working outward until you have an even baguette about 14 inches long. Taper the ends.
4. 4.Transfer seam-side-up onto a heavily floured couche or a parchment-lined sheet pan with rolled-up towels between each loaf to support the sides.

1. 1.Cover loosely with a towel.
2. 2.Proof until the dough has grown by about 50% and springs back slowly when poked. The dent should fill back about halfway in 3 seconds.

Overproofed baguettes can't hold their slash marks open. Underproofed ones tear at the seams instead of opening at the scores.

1. 1.Preheat the oven 45 minutes ahead with a baking stone or steel on the middle rack and a cast-iron skillet on the bottom rack.
2. 2.Flip the proofed baguettes onto a peel or parchment, seam-side-down. Cut each loaf with 3–4 long, shallow slashes at a 30° angle — scoring at this depth lifts the asymmetric ear that defines a baguette.
3. 3.Slide the loaves onto the stone. Immediately pour about 1 cup of boiling water into the skillet and shut the oven fast.
4. 4.Bake 12 minutes with steam, then remove the skillet, drop the heat to 450°F / 232°C, and bake another 10–13 minutes until deep brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped underneath.
5. 5.Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes before slicing. The crumb is still setting.

1. 1.Combine the flour, water, salt, and yeast in your mixing bowl. Mix by hand or with a stand mixer paddle on low until no dry flour remains. About 3 minutes.
2. 2.The dough will look shaggy and rough. That is fine. Cover and let rest 15 minutes (fraisage) so the flour finishes hydrating.

1. 1.Do four sets of stretch and fold at 30-minute intervals over the first 2 hours. Each set: stretch one side up and fold to the middle, rotate, repeat 4 times around the bowl.
2. 2.After the last set, let the dough rest until it has grown by about 50% and feels light and airy.

Same-day doughs need a bit more time and warmth to develop flavor since there is no overnight pre-ferment doing the work.

1. 1.Divide into 3 equal pieces. Pre-shape each into a loose log (flatten, fold thirds, seal). Rest seam-side-down 15 minutes.
2. 2.Final shape into 14-inch baguettes. Roll outward under your palms, tapering the ends.
3. 3.Place seam-up on a floured couche or parchment with towels between for support.

1. 1.Cover loosely.
2. 2.Proof until grown by about 50% and springing back slowly. The poke dent should fill halfway back in 3 seconds.

1. 1.Oven should already be preheated to 475°F / 245°C for at least 45 minutes with a stone/steel on the middle rack and a cast-iron skillet on the bottom rack. The full 45 minutes matters — a stone needs that long to fully saturate with thermal mass and deliver good oven spring.
2. 2.Flip the baguettes onto a peel, cut with 3–4 long shallow slashes at a 30° angle (scoring), and slide onto the stone.
3. 3.Pour 1 cup boiling water into the skillet, shut the oven, bake 12 minutes with steam.
4. 4.Remove the skillet, drop heat to 450°F / 232°C, bake another 10–13 minutes until deep brown.
5. 5.Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes before slicing.