Baguettes

Makes 3 loaves
From King Arthur Flour

Poolish (Starter)
1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) cool water (approximately 60°F)
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

Dough
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
All of the poolish
2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) cool water (approximately 60°F)

For Poolish:
1. Combine the flour, water and yeast and mix until just blended in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Let the poolish rise covered at cool room temperature for 12 hours or so (overnight is usually just fine). It should dome slightly on top, and look aerated and just plain goopy. Try to catch it before it starts to fall, as it will be at its optimum flavor and vigor when it’s at its highest point. On the other hand, don’t make yourself crazy about this; I’ve used plenty of starters that were either pre- or post-prime, and they’ve worked just fine.

For the Dough:
1. Place the flour, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl, the work bowl of a food processor, or the bottom of an electric mixer. Add the poolish and water, and mix until everything is more or less combined (it’s ok if there’s still flour in the bottom of the bowl). Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes. This resting period allows the flour to absorb the liquid, which will make kneading much easier. Knead the dough, by whatever method you like, till it’s cohesive and elastic, but not perfectly smooth; the surface should still exhibit some roughness. You’ll want to knead this dough less than you think you should; while it’ll shape itself into a ball, it won’t have the characteristic “baby’s bottom” smoothness of fully-kneaded dough. So, why aren’t we kneading this dough “all the way”? Because we’ll give it a nice, long rise (fermentation), and during that rising time the gluten continues to develop. If you were to knead this dough fully before rising, the gluten would become unpleasantly stiff during the long fermentation.

2. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl (or oil your mixer bowl, and leave it there). Cover it, and let it rise for 2 hours, folding it over after the first hour. To fold dough, lift it out of the bowl, gently deflate it, fold it in half, and place it back in the bowl; this expels excess carbon dioxide, and also redistributes the yeast’s food.

3. When it has finished its 2-hour rise, divide the dough into three pieces and gently pre-form it into rough logs. Let them rest for 20 minutes, and then shape it into long (13- to 14-inch), thin baguettes. Proof the baguettes, covered with lightly-oiled plastic wrap, on a baguette pan, or a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet until they’re puffy looking, and about 85% risen, 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Preheat your oven (and your baking stone, if you have one) to 500°F. Just before putting the loaves into the oven, use a sharp serrated knife to gently make four diagonal cuts in each loaf. Hold your knife at a 45° angle to the dough’s surface, and slash quickly and decisively, about 1/2-inch deep. Be gentle, but quick; if you hesitate and drag your knife through the dough, it’ll stick rather than cut.

5. Spray the loaves with warm water; this will vaguely replicate the professional baker’s steam-injected oven. Reduce the oven heat to 475°F and bake the loaves for 18 to 24 minutes. Remove the loaves from the oven when they’re a deep, golden brown, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Listen closely just as you take the loaves out of the oven; you’ll hear them “sing”, crackling as they hit the cool air of your kitchen. Let the loaves cool completely before slicing, if you can wait; if you can’t wait, understand that the texture of the loaves where you cut them may be gummy, as they still contain moisture, which will be emitted as they cool.



Notes:
1. If you have a squirt bottle for water, that’s ideal, but you can just sprinkle the loaves with water flicked from your fingertips. Just don’t skip that step; it’s surprisingly important! You can just squirt them once, as you’re putting them in the oven, and then hit them again, after about five minutes baking; but I hardly ever remember to do the second time. They turn out pretty nicely just spraying them the once.

2. The twenty minute cat-nap you give the dough is called “autolyse”, a word you’ll probably never run across again. It helps the gluten relax, and makes for a better end product. But! Salt interferes with the action in autolyse! So, in contradiction to the recipe, I just mixed all the other ingredients, let the dough autolyse, and then added the salt after, as I finished kneading. I really don’t know how much of a difference it makes, but do whatever you’re most comfortable with.

3. I used active-dry yeast, and let my poolish sit for about 20 hours. It was just about perfect.

4. Instead of lifting the dough out of the bowl after the first hour of fermentation, I simply folded the dough over with a spatula, in the bowl, and kinda squished it down a little.

5. I turned my oven temperature down to 450º, and they took about 20 minutes to cook. Be sure not to remove them too early; you want a lovely brown color, not a pale golden.

6. Because these loaves contain no fat, they won’t keep at room temperature for very long. Eat them either the same day they’re baked, or wrap them in foil and stash in the freezer. Rewarm in a 350º oven, for 10-20 minutes (depending on how thick and frozen they are). My favorite trick is to cut a loaf into individual pieces and freeze them in a gallon ziploc. While cooking dinner, just reheat them in the oven, or under a low broiler until thawed and warm.