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Three Home-Oven Baguettes

Three Home-Oven Baguettes

An evening poolish, a morning of shaping
Author:
Austin Welsh-Graham
| Source:
The Toasty Book of Bread
Categories: The Toasty Book of Bread Leavening Bread Form Cooking Method Collection Regional Route Main Material
Tags: Baker’s yeast Long loaf Oven-baked The Toasty Book of Bread Western and Mediterranean Europe Wheat
Ingredients
120 g Plain white wheat flour (Evening poolish.)113 g Water (Evening poolish.)0.0625 tsp Instant yeast (Evening poolish.)1 batch Poolish (Next day's dough.)420 g Plain white wheat flour (Next day's dough.)255 g Water (Next day's dough.)1.5 tsp Instant yeast (Next day's dough.)12 g Fine salt (Next day's dough.)
Description

The first pleasure of a baguette is often the end. It asks to be torn off before the bread reaches the table. The loaf is long enough to share, yet the crispest part feels wonderfully personal. Its shape gives an ordinary walk home a small temptation.

Three short baguettes for a domestic oven, begun with an evening poolish and shaped the following day. Makes 3 short baguettes.

Recipe
Preferment and starter preparation
1
Mix the poolish. Cover for about 14 hours, until bubbly.
Mixing and kneading
1
Add the dough ingredients and knead until cohesive and elastic. Cover for 45 minutes, fold once, then rest another 45 minutes.
Shaping and layering
1
Divide into three rounds. Rest 15 minutes. Shape into approximately 38 cm baguettes. Support with floured cloth folds or parchment. Cover and proof 45-60 minutes, until puffy.
Cooking
1
Preheat to 230 °C. Transfer to a tray. Make three overlapping diagonal cuts. Add steam only with an oven-approved method.
2
Bake 24-28 minutes to deep gold. Cool on a rack.
Notes

Start the evening before. About 30 minutes hands-on. A large tray, cloth or parchment supports, and a sharp blade.

Making the long shape

Flatten a rested round into an oval. Fold the upper half towards you and seal. Turn and repeat. Fold lengthways again, seal, and roll from middle to ends. If the dough resists, rest a few minutes.

Steam in the home oven

Use steam only if your oven’s instructions permit it. Do not splash water onto a hot oven floor, glass door or light, and do not use a glass dish as a steam tray. A recipe can be baked without added steam if your oven has no suitable approved method.