Parisian Baguette

A crusty baguette that, due to how it’s fermented and prooved, is soft and airy on the inside. It’s quite possible to eat the entire thing immediately with Beurre d’Isigny or as part of a Jambom Beurre.

Ingredients

• 52ml warm water
• 7g active dry yeast
• 454g bread flour
• 2tsp kosher salt
• 300ml tepid water
• A cup of cold water

You’ll also want to hold back some flour for dusting.

Method

1. Mix the warm water and active yeast together and leave until it starts to froth
2. Combine the flour and salt (dry)
3. Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and begin to mix
4. Slowly add the tepid water, you probably won’t need all 300ml
5. Once the dough has come together, stop adding water. This is a lean dough (meaning no fat is present), and it should come to form quite a loose dough
6. Place in a bowl, cover and proof for 30 minutes
7. Take the dough out and form a rectangle. Fold each side into itself, turn the dough 90° and repeat until all four corners have been folded
8. Repeat this process twice more
9. Oil the bowl and add the dough back, cover and proof for another 2 hours
10. Take the dough out (carefully) and divide into two
11. Take each portion and repeat the folding process once. Allow 10 minutes to rest
12. Roll each portion out into a baguette shape
13. Once shaped, place on a floured teatowel and roll the sides up to support the baguette when proofing
14. Cover and proof for another 45 minutes
15. Preheat the oven on 230°C for at last 45 minutes before cooking. Ideally you want to be cooking on a pizza stone, if you don’t have one you can use a tray
16. Place the tray or stone towards the top of the oven. At the bottom you’ll want to place a cast iron pot. This step is important, you need steam inside the oven to help create the crust
17. Transfer the proofed baguettes to some floured baking paper, leaving a good distance between them so they don’t touch each other. Cut 4 slits down each baguette at an angle
18. Get a cup of cold water ready before placing the baguettes in the oven
19. Place the baguettes in the oven, pour the cold water in the cast iron pot and close the oven immediately
20. Cook for 30-45 minutes. Keep an eye on the colour of the baguettes
21. Once cooked the baguettes should sound hollow when tapped

Notes

The initial base for fermentation is yeast and dough, but I’d like to experiment with a poolish to achieve a better crumb

Ice is meant to be better for the steaming process over cold water, but I’m yet to try this.

I wonder if leaving the fold out before the baguette forming would provide a more airy crumb

Inspiration

Initial dough ratios from this recipe followed by the preparation and method from this one.