Traditional French Baguette
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Traditional French Baguette

Calculating the Temperature of the Liquid Added to the Dough:

  • The base temperature system determines the temperature of the liquid added to the dough, which yields the most ideal conditions for the yeast to work, regardless of any hot or cold conditions you may encounter.
  • Annotate temperature of the dough, the room, and the flour in Celcius. This part must be done in Celcius, but you can convert the final calculations to Farenheit.
  • Temperature of liquid = Base temperature – (room temperature + flour temperature)
  • EXAMPLE #1: What should the temperature of the water be? Given: Base temperature = 65°C Room temperature = 11°C Flour temperature = 9°C Water temperature = ?
  • ANSWER #1:
    • 11°C (room temperature) + 9°C (flour temperature) = 20°C
    • 65°C (base temperature) – 20°C (room temperature + flour temperature) = 45°C.
    • The water should be adjusted to 45°C or 113°F.
  • EXAMPLE #2: What should the temperature of the milk be? Given: Base temperature = 55°C Room temperature = 22°C Flour temperature = 25°C Milk temperature = ?
  • ANSWER #2:
    • 22°C (room temperature) + 25°C (flour temperature) = 47°C
    • 55°C (base temperature) – 47°C (room temperature + flour temperature) = 8°C.
    • The milk should be adjusted to 8°C or 46°F.

Setting up a proof box:

  1. Make sure oven is turned off and cold
  2. Heat water in a saucepan on the stovetop and bring to a simmer
  3. Place your ready-to-proof product in the oven, on the center rack
  4. add the saucepan on the bottom of the oven
  5. monitor the temperature making sure it stays within:
    1. 77-80F for enriched doughs
    2. 77-78F for enriched doughs with yeast, yeasted laminated doughs, and for bread doughs.
  6. If the temperature becomes too high, simply remove the saucepan. If the temperature becomes too low, remove the saucepan and warm it up on the stovetop. Then place it back in the oven.

 

 

Serves: 5 loaves

Active Time: 3 hrs 50 mins

Total Time: 5 hrs 30 mins

 

For the poolish starter:

  • 150 g Water
  • 150 g Bread flour
  • 0.1 g Dry instant yeast
  • 0.1 g Sea salt, fine

 

For the final baguette dough:

  • 620 g Water
  • 910 g Bread flour
  • 19 g Fine sea salt or fine table salt
  • 4 g Dry instant yeast or 10 g fresh yeast
  • 1 g Malt powder or 2 g of honey
  • 300.2 g Poolish (recipe above)
  • 100 g Bread flour for dusting
  • 75 g Water for oven steam

 

Category:

Description

For the poolish starter:

  1. Scale the ingredients precisely and bring them to room temperature.
  2. Calculate and adjust the temperature of the water to the required base temperature of 62ºC.
  3. Combine the flour, water, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Mix the ingredients until there are no lumps.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure it does not touch the poolish. Allow it to ferment for 12 hours at 70ºF (21ºC).

 

For the final baguette dough:

  1. On the second day, begin the final dough. Calculate and adjust the temperature of the water to the required base temperature of 62ºC.
  2. Combine the water with the poolish. Make a well with the flour on the work surface and place the salt, yeast, and malt inside.
  3. Then pour in the poolish. Incorporate the flour by pulling it into the well of the liquid with your fingertips in small circular motions.
  4. Then combine the remaining flour using your hand and bench scraper. The final temperature of the dough should be 73-77º F (23-25ºC).
  5. Passage en tête the dough using both hands. Clip the dough with your thumb and index finger and stack the pieces on top of each other. Continue to passage en tête for approximately 10 min or until the gluten structure is developed.
  6. Next soufflage the dough, this will ensure the proper gluten development has formed. Stretch and fold the dough, then grab it and turn it a quarter turn to the right. Continue to soufflage for 5 min or until the dough is smooth and does not stick to the work surface. Occasionally clean the work surface.
  7. Test the gluten window.
  8. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure it does not touch. This is the first fermentation. The duration for the first fermentation is 3 hrs. During this period, the dough will be folded five times; each fold is completed every 30 min. The folding process strengthens the structure of the dough.
  9. Lightly dust with flour. Complete the first fold by folding the top to the center then the bottom to the center. Lastly, fold the right side to the left edge and then the left side to right edge. Flip the dough over and place it back into the bowl.
  10. Cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 30 min at room temperature.
  11. Then repeat this folding process 4 more times, every 30 min.
  12. Slightly dust the dough surface with flour. Gently loosen the sides of the dough. Flip out the dough and gently flatten it without pressing out the gases. Cut it into 5 (about 350 grams) pieces.
  13. Next, flatten the dough and fold one more time. Fold for a second time and then a third time. Then smooth the shape and cover.
  14. Let it rest for 30 min at room temperature.
  15. Next, dust the couche and work surface with flour. Beginning with the smooth side down, gently flatten the dough, pressing out the gases. Fold the dough once, then a second time, and finally a third time.
  16. Elongate the dough, beginning in the center and rolling back and forth while moving your hands to the edges. Place the dough on the couche with the seam side up.
  17. Cover and allow it to ferment for 45 min at room temperature.
  18. Place a baking stone on the center rack of the oven and a baking tray on the bottom rack.
  19. Preheat to 480ºF (250ºC) for 15 min. Reserve a container with 75 g water nearby.
  20. Slide the baguettes from the cloth on a wooden board with parchment paper. Score the baguettes on a diagonal seven times.
  21. Slide the loaves with parchment paper on the baking stone. In a quick motion, pour the water onto the baking tray and immediately close the oven door. Turn off the oven for 10 min.
  22. Then turn the oven back on and lower the temperature to 430ºF (220ºC) for 12 min.
  23. Remove and place on a cooling rack.

 

Storage: The typical shelf life of a freshly baked baguette is about 24 hours. Completely cool the baguettes for at least 30 minutes. Then place them in a linen or cloth bag and keep at room temperature for about 24 hours. Freeze baked baguettes tightly wrapped in plastic for up to 1 month. To defrost them, place them wrapped in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 hours. Unwrap and flash bake in a preheated 400°F (205°C) oven for about 2 minutes. We do not recommend refrigerating bread as it dries out or eventually molds.

A traditional baguette weighs 350 grams. It is shaped into a 1.4 inch (3.5 cm) wide x 18 inch to 20 inch (45 cm to 50 cm) long loaf. If your baking stone is shorter than 18 inches, we recommend that you shape the loaves to 300 grams to make sure they fit properly on the baking stone.

In a pinch, you can replace the 1 g of malt powder with 2 g of honey.

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