Baguette Pan Baguettes
Ingredients
Poolish (Starter)
- 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup cool water (approximately 60°F)
- a pinch of instant yeast
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- all of the poolish
- 3/4 cup cool water (approximately 60°F)
Directions
Poolish
Combine the flour, water and yeast; mix until well-blended. Let the poolish rise, covered, at cool room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. It should dome slightly on top, and look aerated and bubbly. 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.
Mixer method: Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of your mixer. Pour some of the water around the edges of the poolish in its container to loosen it. Pour the poolish and water onto the flour. Using the flat beater paddle, mix the dough on low speed for 3 minutes, adding more flour or water if necessary to bring the dough together. The dough should look a little sticky, but should clean the sides of the bowl. Switch to the dough hook, knead for 4 minutes, cleaning the dough from the hook at the 2-minute mark.
Bread machine method: Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bucket of your bread machine. Pour some of the water around the edges of the poolish in its container to loosen it. Pour the poolish and water onto the flour. Program the machine for dough and press Start. Check the dough after about 10 minutes of kneading; add more flour or water if needed to create a sticky dough.
To mix by hand: In a large bowl, combine the dough ingredients with the poolish. Stir until the dough begins to come together. Oil your hands and use a dough scraper to knead the dough right in the bowl - this will help knead the dough without adding too much flour.
1) Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl (or oil your mixer bowl, and leave it in there). Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise for 2 hours, folding it over after the first hour (or more frequently, if the dough is very slack or wet; this folding helps strengthen the gluten).
2) Divide the dough into three pieces and gently pre-form it into rough logs. Let it rest for 20 minutes, and then shape it into baguettes. Proof the baguettes, covered, on your baguette pan until they're puffy looking, 30 to 40 minutes.
3) Preheat your oven (and your baking stone, if you have one) to 500°F. Just before putting the loaves into the oven, slash the tops several times. Hold your knife at a 45° angle to the dough's surface, and slice quickly and decisively, about 1/2-inch deep. Spritz the loaves with water, place them in the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 475°F. 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.
Reviews
02/22/2012- I've made this recipe three times, each time using fed sour dough starter in the place of the poolish. The fed starter is 94% hydrated, the poolish is 92%, so they are basically identical aside from the taste (and I've already got the starter hanging around waiting for something to do). I've also made it with the Sir Galahad flour (which a local store happens to sell). Even with the tweaks, the breads have turned out very well, bursting open as they bake and developing a crumb with a good mix of open & fine texture. Also, the videos elsewhere on the site that show shaping baguettes helped quite a bit. Normally, I've just pulled until I got close to the shape I wanted, but that results in skinny midspans and fat ends. Thanks for the recipe.
- 02/21/2012
- This recipe so far exceeded my expectations...simply wonderful result...and the baguette pan was a worthwhile purchase for me.
02/16/2012- I'm a pretty good cook, but I've never made a loaf of bread from scratch before in my life. I bought the baguette pan and made this recipe. It came out perfect! Look at me...I'm a baker!
- 02/13/2012
- This baguette recipe is FAB! I was really pleased with the texture and taste of the bread! The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because it was just a tad too much salt. Other than that, it is wonderful! I sprayed my loaves with water about 3 times in the first 7 mins and then let the loaves completely cool in the oven with the door cracked and it really produced an authentic chewy crusty baguette crust!
- 01/22/2012
- From this recipe, the best baguettes to come out of my kitchen!
- 04/21/2011
- My French bread loaf pan isn't exactly the same as this one, so I basically made the recipe as instructed, divided the dough into two lumps, and made two batards instead of three baguettes. They turned out wonderful! My friends and I gobbled both of them up over the course of the evening, and I have no leftovers of which to speak. I therefore sadly cannot comment on prior reviews saying that these go stale quickly. I made them exactly as instructed, and they were wonderfully crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. I'll definitely be making these (or some version of them) again and again. I've noticed quite a few folks commenting that they have drafty kitchens that are unkind environments for rising bread. I have that problem too, and I'd like to share my way of getting around it. I take my covered bowl of dough, starter, or whatever, and I put it in the microwave to rise and close the door. I don't turn it on or anything; I just like to set it in there out of the way of drafts, chilly air, and my two curious kitties.
- 03/03/2011
- I forgot to address the high temperature comments........I always follow a recipe exactly the first time, then adapt if I wish. So, I was thinking about all the comments on temperature as I made my first batch. Anyhow.........I used the temperatures as written and they worked for me. I plan to not change the recipe for my next batch.
- 03/03/2011
- Wow! This was fantastic-despite me not really noticing any change in the starter - hence, after 14 hours I just considered it ready and used it at that point. The baguette pan is a gem! I squirted in the oven twice. I cooled it, wrapped it in tinfoil, then warmed it up as my one, solo, oven was available.........for guests. Worked swell. Despite someone saying it went stale quick, what we had leftover lasted a week just fine. I think that is good, given it's preservative-free.
- 02/19/2011
- This is absolutely awesome! I didn't order the baguette pan from KAF but only because I had a couple of Amazon Groupons so I ordered from there at a discount. I have made 5 batches of these and given away a bunch of them and have people begging for more! I especially love the hint I saw somewhere for heating baguettes up later - wrap one in a wet towel for a little bit before you heat it up, then stick in the oven - totally brings back the crispy/crackly crust from when it was fresh! (I probably saw that on this site but cannot remember where)
- 02/18/2011
- I am always suspicious when a recipe has a short list of ingredients. And, I have a bread-raising unfriendly kitchen (cold and receives drafts from the entrance foyer). However, my bread took more time than the recipe stated but I ended up with the most fantastic bread.......Julia Childs would be impressed! I used this first attempt as a practice run for OTBN (the New York Times' Open That Bottle Night, which the event is on February 26, 2011, this year). I purchased your baguette pan, which I think is better than using my stone wheel for this type of bread. I highly recommend purchasing this for anyone interested in French baguettes. It costs under $20, so it's not a huge investment.
