Simply enjoy food

In my last blog entry, I posted an easy way to make baguettes.

But there is more than one way to skin a cat. Here is a slight variation you can apply to the last recipe which may help you get a more intense flavor in a shorter period of time:

Instead of putting the dough in the fridge, let it sit on the counter at room temperature for up to 24 hours. The dough will be slightly more challenging to handle in comparison to the cold dough out of the fridge.

The secret is to not stretch and fold the dough until you are ready to bake. Mix all the ingredients with a spoon. Cover it and let it sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours. For example, if you are planning a special evening meal, you can mix up your baguette dough in the morning.

Two hours before you plan to serve the baguettes, perform the three S&Fs on the dough at 15 minute intervals. Shape the dough into baguettes as usual and final proof for only 20 minutes. Since I preheat my oven for 20 minutes, the timing of that last step works out nicely. Bake and cool as usual.

Baguettes can be difficult to make.

Although they are an sometimes an afterthought, often made from leftover dough, it's difficult to create one from scratch that has the right appearance and flavor.

Here's a recipe and method for making them that I think you will come back to. Yes, there are better ways of doing this, but this method is a neat compromise between the everyday home baker and the bread snob.

It works perfectly well for those who don't own or use a baking scale. To be honest, whether the hydration ends up being in the sixties or seventies (or even higher), great baguettes will be made and eaten. If you want to improve your baking, please use a scale. If you just want to see if you can do this, go ahead with confidence - you don't need a laboratory to bake great bread.

I was inspired to write this after participating in this thread on TheFreshLoaf.com.

Equipment:

Large bowl
Measuring cup
Baking stone
Tin foil roasting pan
Parchment paper
Razor blade or tomato (serrated) knife

Ingredients:
- Two cups (about 300 grams) White flour - use unbleached. You can use all-purpose or bread flour.
- One cup Water (about 216 grams - yes, one cup doesn't yield exactly 240ml unless you spill water all over the kitchen)
- One teaspoon Salt (any kind) (6 grams)
- 1/8th teaspoon Yeast (any kind) (1 gram)

Method:

Put exactly two cups of flour into a large bowl. Create a well in the center of the flour and drop in the salt, yeast and then pour the water into the well. Mix up the yeast with the water for a moment. Let it sit for two minutes or so to hydrate and dissolve the yeast.

Mix the water into the flour with a spoon. This should take a minute, maybe two. Don't worry about lumps, just try to involve all the dry flour into the dough.

Cover the bowl and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Stretch and fold the dough:
Using very wet hands, scrape the dough off the surface of the bowl and turn it upside down in the bowl. Flatten it out and pull the top third over the middle.

Pull the bottom third over the middle.

Do the same with both sides.

Flip the dough upside down and cover the bowl. Let it sit for another 20 minutes. Repeat the Stretch and Fold process two more times at 20 minute intervals. But don't worry about the timing that much. Just as long as you get the three S&Fs done within one to three hours, you will be fine. So, if you forget your dough and only get to the last S&F two hours later, it will still work fine. But the process should take one hour at a minimum, so that the yeast has time to get going before you move on to the next step.

Once the dough has been worked, cover it and put it into the fridge for use the next day. You can bake it after it has been sitting in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Its flavor will improve some more over the next few days. Use it within five days or the enzymes will start to break down the strength of the dough and your bread's quality will start to decline.

Take your dough from the refrigerator and uncover it. It should have risen overnight.

Dust the counter and the surface of the dough with a little flour so that it doesn't stick to your hands and scrape it from the bowl without degassing it too much. Drop it on the counter and cut the dough in half.

Gently flatten each piece into a rectangle shape without popping the gas bubbles. Use a little flour so that the dough doesn't stick to your fingers. Roll up or fold the dough onto itself to form a thick cylinder. This is called preshaping. Cover it so that it doesn't dry out and let it sit for 60 minutes. I cover it with the tin foil pan that I will be using to create steam in the oven.

After the 60 minute rest, gently unstick the dough from the counter and lay the smoothest surface down on top of a little flour. Flatten the dough and tuck the bottom part into the middle while stretching the smooth surface of the dough. Roll and tuck it up tight. Tuck the tips in before you close up the seam.

Gently rock and roll the dough to create a longer shape. Even out the width of the dough by rolling some spots more than others. Place the dough seam side down on a piece of parchment paper. Shape and place the other piece of dough next to it.

Cover and let it rise for another 40 minutes. During the last 20 minutes of rise, preheat the over and pizza stone to the highest temperature.

Just before putting the dough in the oven, slash each baguette a few times. Try to make long slashes so that you can overlap them to create a nicer effect when it bakes.

Transfer the parchment paper onto the pizza stone. Wet the inside of the tin foil pan with about a tablespoon of water and swish it around so that it sticks to the surface and doesn't immediately roll off. Cover the dough in the oven with the wet tin foil pan and close the oven door. Let it sit there at maximum temperature for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the tin foil pan with an oven mitt (I also use a fork to pick it up) and place it on the top of the oven. Shut the oven door and lower the temperature to 400 degrees F. Let the bread bake for four minutes.

On a side note, the tin foil pan will take two minutes to cool, after which you can put it away (Only two minutes, really! - It takes less time to warm up, too, so there is no need to preheat it and waste energy like you would do with a Dutch Oven!)

After four minutes at 400 degrees, rotate the bread 180 degrees so that it cooks evenly. It should be done in four more minutes. Bake a little more or less to taste - some people like a very dark crust while others prefer it light and soft.

Place the bread on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Don't say I didn't warn you - your baguettes will have a gummy texture and will lack flavor until cooled down.

For more bread ideas, visit Yeastspotting at Wild Yeast Blog