Authentic Artisan Baguettes - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup very warm water
4 cups unbleached flour.
Tip: substitute 1 cup unbleached flour with 1 cup cake flour for a softer textured recipe baguettes.
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tbsp cool water

Preparation

Combine yeast & warm water, stir, & let stand for 3 minutes. Combine flour & salt in separate bowl. Pour in yeast mixture & the cool water. Mix w/ hands. Place baguette dough on floured kneading surface & knead until dough is supple but not too smooth. This will take about 4 minutes. (Use minimum of additional flour).

Cover dough w/ towel & let rest for 20 min.

Knead for 6 minutes until dough is smooth/stretchy. Place in oiled bowl, coat, cover w/ towel. Let rise until doubled (about 2 hrs.).

Push the dough down gently & fold over itself. Shape into a ball; cover, & rise again until doubled. Place dough on lightly floured surface, divide into thirds, & stretch the first piece into a rectangle. Leave large bubbles in dough. Fold top down & bottom up, like a letter. Roll the loaf to shape into a log. Press lightly to seal the seam. Fold dough over by a third 3 times, seal length of the loaf, then repeat. Aim at drawing the skin tight over the surface but leave some bubbles.

Seal the skin w/o tearing or deflating. Set aside. Shape the other 2 pieces.

Roll each baguette back & forth until each loaf is longer. Put the loaves on a baguette pan or on a lightly floured baking sheet lined w/ parchment paper. Cover w/ a floured cloth & rise for half an hour or until loaves are plump but not doubled.

While dough is rising, heat oven to 500\u00b0. If using baking stone, place it in oven to preheat. Place an empty water pan under the stone.

Cut slashes on the top of each baguette, running vertically. Don't deflate the loaves when cutting. Mist the loaves w/ a mister or plant sprayer.

Place the baguette pans in the oven, or slide the loaves onto the heated baking stone.

Pour cup of very hot water into the water pan. Close door. 1 min. later, mist loaves & the oven walls. Close door. Mist again in 2 minutes.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 400\u00b0. Bake 25 min. or longer until the loavs are golden brown. Cool on a rack.