Baguettes with Poolish
Jun 28th, 2008 by SteveB
It’s been said that the baguette, although one of the simplest breads (being comprised of only flour, water, yeast and salt), is perhaps the most difficult bread to make well. A good baguette has a thin, crisp crust, a light and airy crumb having a distribution of both large and small air pockets (alveoli), and a slightly sweet, almost nutty flavor. Being the perfectionist that I am, I would also add that a good baguette has to look enticing, being a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.
The baguette formula used here is a modification of the Baguettes with Poolish formula described by Hamelman on page 101 of Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes (see book for baker’s percentages). The main changes were in the method of mixing (see Musings on Mixing…), the amount of yeast used in the final dough and the elimination of the folding step.
Poolish
- 10.6 oz. King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 10.6 oz. Water
- 1/8 tsp. Instant Yeast
Final Dough
- 1 lb., 5.4 oz. King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 10.6 oz. Water
- 0.6 oz. Salt
- 1 tsp. Instant Yeast
- 1 lb., 5.2 oz. (all of the above) Poolish
Prepare the poolish the night before baking. Mix the flour, water and yeast together until the mixture is the consistency of a smooth, thick batter. Cover and let it ferment overnight at a temperature of around 72oF until mature (about 12 hrs).
The next morning, prepare the final dough by combining the flour, yeast, salt, water and poolish, just until all the ingredients are mixed and well hydrated (I find a dough whisk to be particularly suited to this task). The water should be at a temperature which will give a final dough temperature of around 76oF (more on this in a later post). I also used less yeast than the Hamelman formula calls for because of the high temperature of my kitchen at this time of year (the higher temperature would shorten the first fermentation time, and hence compromise the flavor, if the quantity of yeast was not reduced). Depending upon your conditions, you may need a bit more or less yeast.
After the ingredients have been fully incorporated, the dough is mixed by hand (see Musings on Mixing…) for about 10-15 min., until the dough develops a smooth skin which doesn’t tear while mixing. The dough is then placed in a lightly oiled, covered container and allowed to ferment. This first fermentation is judged complete when the imprint of a finger poked into the dough remains. In this particular case, the first fermentation lasted 1 1/2 hours. In addition, the dough was judged to have developed sufficient strength after the hand mixing so that the folding step during the first fermentation suggested by Hamelman was not needed.
Once the first fermentation was judged complete, the dough was divided into 4 equal pieces, by weight, and each piece was given a gentle round pre-shaping. The dough pieces were then covered with plastic and allowed to rest for 20 min. After the rest, each dough piece was shaped into a baguette and then nestled within the folds of a linen couche, as shown below:
The shaped baguette dough is then covered with the remaining linen and allowed a second fermentation time of about 1 hr. The second fermentation is judged complete when a finger press results in an impression that lasts for 2-3 secs.
After the second fermentation is complete, the baguettes are scored with a lame and baked in a 450oF oven for 20 min., with steam being supplied during the first 10 mins. via a hand steamer and an inverted buffet tray with a small hole drilled into it (details of the steaming technique are described here):
Very nice blog, Steve, and great baguettes! These are definitely a feast for the eyes. It looks like in addition to the “Steam Maker Bread Baker” you also have a steam pan in the bottom of your oven?
Great explanations and video! Now I’ve got visuals…. and no more excuses. The problem I have is the wooden table surface. I find it more difficult using flour.
I ordered the book and will be getting it in about 2 weeks time.
Jane
Did I read right that you are a beginner?!? These breads look so lovely. And thanks for the site–another to add to my favorites!
Thank you all for the compliments! My hope is that this blog will act as a conduit for sharing new techniques and formulae with each other, all towards the goal of baking better bread.
Susan – Being that you are the author of one of my favorite bread blogs (wildyeastblog.com), your comments are highly valued. I was able to put together my own ersatz “Steam Maker Bread Baker”, having already owned a hand-held steamer. The rock-filled pan in the bottom of my oven is not used for steam but rather to increase the thermal mass of the oven. I find that this allows the oven to get back up to temperature faster whenever the oven door is opened.
Jane – I’m glad the video was of value to you. I initially mixed my dough on a wooden tavolini board but found that the wood was absorbing too much moisture from the dough. I probably should have treated the surface with some type of food-grade oil. I think you’ll really enjoy Hamelman’s book.
Abbey – Although I am not a professional baker, I have been baking bread at home for a few years. It really does take time for one to get a feel for the dough. It probably took me longer than most!
Great instructions. The videos are excellent. Add a video on your scoring technique! Your baguettes are just beautiful! I’m inspired.
David
David, stay tuned for more on scoring and other shaping techniques.
Are the measurements for your final dough correct? I added the poolish and then measured out the water, yeast, and flour. After mixing I got a very runny batter. Nothing close to the consistency allowing one to grab a pinch dough.
Alex, I checked the quantities for the final dough and they are correct. The overall hydration of the final dough comes in at 66%. One factor which will affect the consistency of the final dough is the protein content of the flour being used. I used King Arthur All-Purpose flour, which has a protein content of around 11.7%. All things being equal, for a given water content, the lower the protein content, the looser the dough. If the flour you are using is already around 11.7%, I would try adding just enough water to the final dough to give you the consistency shown.
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Hi Steve – do you remember the dimensions of your baguettes? I’ll try these for a party on Saturday -I’m limited by the size of my oven which I just measured. My baking stone is 14 x 16 and there’s an inch free on all sides. Another question please, what size is your inverted buffet tray? Our baking stones look to be the same size.
I enjoy your website so much thanks for sharing all your efforts in such an attractive way.
Judy
Judy, I shape my baguettes to the length of a baking sheet, about 16″ long. The baking stone I use is actually the base of a Hearthkit without the side pieces, with dimensions 20 1/2″ wide x 14 1/2″ deep. The buffet tray is about the same 20 1/2″ wide but is a bit less deep.
Hi Steve,
I was hoping you could indicate your experience with your tavolina. I would like to get one.
I am especially concerned with warping. Has it been a problem?
Chris
Hi Chris,
The tavolini board I have was purchased from King Arthur Flour a number of years ago. I’m not sure if they still sell it but this particular model is very heavy duty, with a hardwood thickness of about 3/4 inch. It’s great for shaping dough, providing just the right amount of friction. I used a sheet of rubber mesh under the board to prevent slipping.
Great blog, Steve, and you’re making great baguettes. I too want to learn from you Can u pls tell me after making it, its taste will be soft or hard? I heard home baked baguettes is much harder than the store brought baguettes. Hard for first time baker to measure oz. Can u pls writes its each measurement in cup?
Thanks,
Rajee
Rajee, thank you for your kind words. I’m not sure what you are asking regarding whether the taste is soft or hard. If you are asking about the texture of a home baked baguette’s crust, then I would have to say that unlike the mushy, rubbery crust of a typical (for the U.S.) store-bought baguette, the crust of a properly baked baguette is thin and crispy, but not what I would classify as hard.
Regarding measurements in cups, I purposely do not use, nor do I recommend using, volumetric measurements because they are notoriously variable and unreliable. If you are serious about baking good bread, I would suggest looking into investing in an inexpensive kitchen scale.
Hey Steve, great website. I am just learning to bake bread an your illustrations are extremely helpful. Keep up the good work!
Amber, thanks for the compliments and encouragement.
Hi Steve,
I have done this receipe 5 times now. Two turned out really good, and three of them, the bread turned out bland and “subway”-esque. I was wondering if you could help try to find what could have gone wrong.
I switched away from tap water after the first failure. So I use spring water at room temperature ~70-71 degrees. I do the by-hand kneading and the dough looks really nice. I do a 2 hour first fermentation, and do a folding at each hour.
I think that maybe my poolish is not always ready when I use it? I tend to leave it 12 hours overnight, room temperature around 70-71, maybe a tad cooler since it’s winter here in Charlestown. I always use the same KA MP flour and same weights with electronic scale. I bake at 450 for twenty minutes using a baking dish with water for steam for 10 minutes.
It also seems that after my last proofing, the bread is really weak? is that normal? It poofs up nicely and shapes really like baguette when it works well, but it always seems like my bread is weak after the last proofing.
If the bread is bland, could it be my poolish hasn’t fermented enough? Should I go for 16 hours? I will try that next, but if you have any other suggestions it will be greatly appreciated.
Paolo
Paolo, there are a couple of things that can cause a lack of flavor in your baguette. The first, and most obvious one, is forgetting to add the salt to the dough. Don’t laugh… every baker has done this at one time or another, myself included. Assuming this isn’t the problem, a second possibility is insufficient maturation of the poolish. The way I judge when a poolish is mature and ready to use is by keeping an eye on the level of the poolish. When the level of the poolish has expanded to its maximum height and is just starting to recede, the poolish is ready to use. I would use this as the criteria for sufficient maturation, rather than going strictly on time.
If you are getting good oven spring, then I wouldn’t worry too much about the dough seeming weak after the final proofing.
Hi Steve,
Just for your information, the link to this formula on the “Formulae” page is defective (it links to something like localhost.wordpress etc). I got here through the “Lean doughs” page. Just so you know!
Aisha, thanks for the heads-up. The link has been fixed.
hey man, so i have never tried baguettes before and after putting it off(and partly because i should be studying tonight) i will try my hand at your recipe. i use flours for my breads from the arva flour mill in arva, ontario, canada( you should google it, they have a website). their mill is still powered by a small river! very unique and i like to think of that process and how old it is when i work my doughs by hand. I have had great success with various breads and find your website to be very helpful in my pursuit of wonderful breads thanks for sharing, dave.
ok, there is no more website, i just checked, google it, there are some videos of the white stripes playing there. cheers, off to make some poolish.
Great site, Steve. Had given up baking bread 15 years back from some local-publish bread book recipe. Bought the Jeffrey Hamelman Bread Techniques and Recipes and had since tried 8 times and failed even tough each time the baguette came out of the oven gets better and edible. The final dough always feel supple and soft, turn out to be of different shape all the time after the final fermentation. Find your website to be very helpful in my pursuit of baking breads, thanks for sharing. I think i need more patience and practice.
Lien, the baguette is one of the most difficult breads to master. Keep practicing. Take pleasure in the process and soon you’ll be taking pleasure in the product!
Hello, Steve. Excellent website and beautiful bread! A general question: what would be the conversion of instant yeast (volume by teaspoons) to fresh yeast (weight in ounces)? For example, how many ounces (or fractions of ounces) of fresh yeast equals one teaspoon of instant yeast? Where I live, the instant yeast is unreliable. (I though it was me screwing up the bread.) I now use fresh yeast, but I am guessing. Somewhere I read that 2.25 teaspoons is about 0.5 to 0.6 ounces. My bread isn’t bad, but when I see these poolish recipes with 1/8 teaspoons of yeast I am confused. The poolish is the “secret” ingredient, so I want to get it right. GregoryK
Hi Gregory. Thanks for the kind words. According to the yeast conversion table at TheArtisan.net, 1 tsp. of instant dry yeast weighs 0.09 oz. That would mean that 1 tsp. of instant dry yeast is equivalent to 0.27 oz of fresh yeast (1 g of instant dry yeast is equivalent to 3 g of fresh yeast).
In looking at your recipe and the Hamelman recipe, he uses bread flour and you recommend all purpose flour for the baguettes. What was your reason for changing the flour typs?
Highheat, as stated in his book, Hamelman uses the term ‘bread flour’ to describe any wheat-based white flour with a 10-14% protein content. The King Arthur All-Purpose Flour I used has a protein content of 11.7% and therefore fits within Hamelman’s definition of ‘bread flour’.
good info
That was a nice read.
SteveB, the site … I’m speechless …
Are you familiar with Leidenheimer’s bread that is used for >90% of all New Orleans Po Boys. I you could reproduce this, you would become a God to the misplaced New Orleans Natives/former occupants. The bread is the key to the sandwich. There a 2 restaurants here in Atlanta that import the L. bread regularly from New Orleans just for their sandwiches. Here are a few examples of what web folks a saying http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2189/new-orleans-french-bread-poboy-bread, and http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/10/25/roast-beef-po-boy-debris-gravy/.
For my poboys, I begrudgingly use Mexican bolillo, or Vietnamese bread, but the crumb is too soft and “whitish”. They both have the thin crisp crust that Leidenheimer bread has. The bolillo has a slightly stronger interior. Local french bread does not work, Something is wrong, the loafs are too thin and the crumb is too strong/dense.
Do you think you can help? Do you want to help? If you have not visited New Orleans and had a poboy, you have to to experience the bread. Email me if you want recommendations of restaurants. You can also find me on pizzamaking.com as tonymark. That is how I found this blog.
Keep up the good work. You have taught me so much. Thanks!
Hi tonymark. Thanks for stopping by.
I have, indeed, had the pleasure of eating po’ boys (oyster po’ boys are my favorite) during past visits to New Orleans. I wish I could help you with recreating the po’ boy bread but, unfortunately, it’s been quite a number of years since the last time I’ve eaten an authentic po’ boy and my sensory memory isn’t what it used to be. I guess I’ll just have to take another trip down to New Orleans to renew my acquaintance with po’ boys and beignets.
Hi Steve,
I love your blog but I don’t have pizza stone and steaming set. when I make a bread it becomes chewy, sometimes hard and dark in the bottom and How can I make upper crust soft but brown?, I use non-stick oven tray and I keep it in the center rack of the oven…Please suggest.
Deepali
Hi Deepali,
To create a softer upper crust, try brushing the loaf with melted butter right before baking. Adding butter or olive oil to the dough when it is mixed should also increase the tenderness of the loaf.
Thx SteveB, i was using the same method and it gives a perfect baguette. However, i found that if i used the spiral mixer instead of by hand, the result was totally different. Do you have any suggestion the dough mixing using the spiral mixer.
THX
Hi Steve,
I really like your blog and your step by step directions. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
I have a question about baguettes. I tried your recipe and I really liked it. The crust was crispy and the center was soft and delicious. However, the texture wasn’t totally right. My baguettes had lots of tiny air holes but no big ones as in your picture. My only guess is that I used a store brand all-purpose flour not King Arthur’s brand flour. Would this cause the difference?
Any help you can give in diagnosis why my bread lacks larger holes would be greatly appreciated.
Macfield, a spiral mixer is a very efficient style of mechanical mixer. Small, tabletop spiral mixers are available to the home baker (see the SP5 here), but they are relatively expensive. If using a spiral mixer, just mix until a medium level of dough development is achieved (a so-called ‘improved’ mix). It will take considerably less time using a spiral mixer to reach this point than if mixing were performed by hand. To approach the results of a spiral mixer using a home planetary mixer, such as a KitchenAid, see More Musings on Mixing…
Amy, different brands of flour may have different levels of protein and this would affect how much water needs to be added to obtain a dough with the desired characteristics. Use the water quantity shown as a starting point and add more water, if necessary, to achieve a soft, medium consistency dough after mixing. Also try to be gentle when shaping, maintaining whatever holes were formed during the fermentation process. Shaping requires “an iron hand in a velvet glove”, as Professor Calvel used to say.
Hi Steve,
I saw your blog last year and thought everything is clear for me. But life shows me the more I know the more doubts I have. I was at almost every “bread” blog – because I love real French baguettes, which are not available now in my capital town. Oh, yeas there are plenty of them, but not at all such like real thing I remember ten years ago or from Paris. I mean crispy crust and, what’s more important to me, the interior full of alveoles (:)) ) So, I’ve found hundreds recipes. With poolish and without, with sugar and without, baked with steam and with spray water ON the baguettes, really, I am now more stupid than before… So please, tell me as Great Guru (your baguettes inside are perfect for me), why you don’t add the sugar? Even a small quantity? Wouldn’t it better in taste?
And I want to know, if you please, what exactly mean: the baguettes are scored with a lame , and inverted buffet tray?
And the last but not least – may I make the first preparation in the baking machine?
Sorry for disturb you and best greetings
Joanna
Hi Joanna,
With repect to ingredients, the baguette is one of the simplest of breads; just flour, water, yeast and salt. Nothing else. By French law, sugar is not allowed in baguette dough and it is not necessary for flavor if the baguette dough is properly fermented.
For my technique of scoring and steaming, please see the video here.
Although I have never tried it, one should be able to properly mix baguette dough in a bread machine.
Hi, Steve,
)
But with small and big holes!
Thanks a lot. I’m asking you about things I did read before. True dumb blonde, really!
I just finished my first lovely baguette, thanks to you. You are great! I had only two problems – when I covered formed baguettes, after one hour all of them had glued to the linen sheet, though I cover it (generously) with the flour. When baguettes rised, were very sticky. Well, I formed them again.
Second problem is too thick crust. Yes, very tasty and crisp, but really very thick. I would say, that crust was as thick as the inside, which was a bit too thin
What went wrong?
J.
Joanna, when you first prepare your linen couche, make sure you rub in lots of flour so that it gets trapped within the linen’s weave. Do not wash the linen after use. Just lay it out to dry. You’ll find that the more you use your linen, the less likely dough will stick to it.
To obtain a thinner crust, try baking your baguettes at a slightly higher temperature for a slightly shorter period of time. You can also try varying the second fermentation time a bit. This may take some trial and error.
Your baguettes look great and the technique is similar to what I learned at San Francisco Baking Institute. I think it is almost impossible to make great baguettes without a thermometer and scale. When I get lazy and scoop out the flour with a measuring cup, sometimes they are good and sometimes not. At SFBI, we were taught not to knead the dough, but to just fold it every hour for three hours. Now I have to look at the calendar as well as the clock before I start my baguettes. It takes time to make something that is consistently good.
Hi Steve, I enjoyed your post! I am in the process of learning how to bake baguette. I drove 6 hours last fall to a baguette baking class for my basic education. Now I am gathering as much additional information as I can, to make my baguettes fabulous! I have two pieces of information that I would like to share. First, there is a formula I use to end up with a dough that has a 78° temperature. It will determine what temp your water should be. I measure the temp of the air, the flour & the poolish. I add a friction factor for the kneading process, depending on what method I use, hand kneading, bread machine, stand mixer, or food processor. I hand knead, so my friction factor is low, about 15°. I then determine what temp the water should be. The formula is this:
(4X desired dough temp) – (flour temp =+ room temp + poolish temp + friction factor)
When I use this formula, my dough ends up at 78° which I have been told is the perfect temperature for optimal proofing.
Next, I have developed a perfect steaming system. I bought a 10 foot length of clear silicone tubing on Amazon for $10.00. It is resistant to heat up to 500°. Ten minutes before I put my baguettes in the oven, I turn my espresso machine on and attach the tube to the milk steamer. When I want the steam, I insert the tube into the top of the oven, shut the door, and turn the steam wand on full blast. There are no trays to worry about, and even I don’t burn myself! This keeps the heat in the oven as the door remains closed, and my baguettes come out with a perfect crust.
Now my only problem is getting the inside texture right, the holes are too small right now. Since reading here, I am going to try being more gentle with the dough after the first rise.
Hi Lynda,
Thanks for the equation used to calculate the water temperature needed to obtain a desired dough temperature (although I think you might have a misplaced “=” sign in there).
I use the same formula for recipes that make use of a pre-ferment:
Tw = 4DDT – Tf – Ta – Tp – FF
and a slightly modified one for those recipes that do not:
Tw = 3DDT – Tf – Ta – FF
where:
Tw = Water temperature
DDT = Desired dough temperature
Tf = Flour temperature
Ta = Ambient temperature
Tp = Pre-ferment temperature
FF = Friction factor
Regarding steaming, for those who have an espresso machine, your technique of using the steaming arm of the machine to generate oven steam is inspired! I’ve seen instances where people have snaked metal steam tubes through their oven’s vents and into their oven’s cavity so that they wouldn’t even need to open their oven doors to introduce the steam.
Steve,
Rookie question here as this is the very first time I have ever made bread with a scale. Is the water fluid Ounces or weight?
I ask for I tried to limit myself to the flour and when I was kneading the dough it I found it sticky upon running out of flour.
Thanks for the site, it gives me hope I can achieve good bread at home!
Hi Tom,
With the exception of certain ingredient quantities being expressed in teaspoons or tablespoons, all other quantities are expressed in units of weight. The final dough should be somewhat sticky and behave as shown in the video.
Steve,
Thank you for clarifying. That is probably my first problem in the past, too much flour. I am very pleased to report that the dough did behave as per the video.
The second fermentation is over, the baguettes did not rise as much as I would have expected however it passed your test above so …
My first two loaves are in the oven, due out in six minutes!
Hi Steve,
i was intrigued by how well your hand mixing method works! Thank you for the insight. I’m looking forward to going through the rest of your blog.
I just attempted your baguette recipe this morning before classes
A few questions concerning the baguettes. I halved the recipe and baked 2 loaves in a perforated Chicago Metallic baguette pan (450F oven). The heat from my oven comes from the bottom. This showed when the bottom of the loaves formed a lovely golden crust but the tops remained pale. I tried “steaming” with a pan of hot water below the baguettes and covering them with another hotel pan – trying to replicate your steaming method. I ended up flipping the baguettes over upside down to try to even out the browning. Do you have any suggestions for the beautiful even browning your loaves have?
Also the flavor of the baguettes were quite good but didn’t quite have the more developed flavor characteristic. I read your reply to an earlier comment about salt (I did remember but might increase the amount I used by a touch). The other factor I can identify is the fermentation time. I fermented the loaves the recommended time, and the dough texture seemed correct before moving onto the next steps. Can the missing flavor be addressed through longer fermentation?
Many Thanks.
a2, For baking baguettes, I strongly recommend using a baking stone instead of a baguette pan. This will produce a more dramatic oven spring, resulting in the desired open crumb structure. As to your baguettes not browning properly, that can be due to a number of factors, including overproofing, too low an oven temperature (knob settings are notoriously unreliable so I use an oven thermometer to ensure the proper oven temperature) or not giving the baguettes sufficient time to bake after the steam has been vented from the oven. Regarding the flavor, you might try reducing the quantity of yeast a bit and extending the fermentation time.
Hey Steve, I did put an errant = sign in the formula, my bad, I didn’t proofread my entire post. I made baguette on Sunday, my best so far! I found that I was overworking the dough after the first rise. My texture was so much better, with lots of small and large holes. I just started a rye poolish. Do you have any help there? Also, I am not getting any ears, the slashes almost disappear. At what angle do you hold the lamé, and how deep do you go with the slashing?
Lynda, after you mix your rye pre-ferment (also called a rye sour) and place it in its container to ferment, I would suggest sprinkling the top lightly with rye flour to prevent the sour from drying out and to monitor the progress of the sour’s maturation. As the sour matures, it will expand and cracks will start to form in the surface flour layer. Remember that rye flour contains more nutrients and fermentable sugars than wheat flour, so the fermentation should occur faster than would otherwise occur with wheat flour.
When I score my baquettes and batards, I typically hold my lame at a 45º maximum angle to the surface of the loaf and score anywhere from ¼ to ½ inch deep.
Steve,
Just took my third attempt at duplicating this recipe. Each time the rise during the actual baking was non existent, or anemic. The crust was great, flavour was very good, just am not getting that nice crumb. I have used the double flour addition technique twice and the hand technique once. The oven was 500F when I put in the loafs quickly cooling down to 425-450 when I put in water (do not yet have a steamer … may have to wait ’til christmas.) I fun it for 15 minutes at 450 without the fan, and turn a fan on for the last five minutes.
Any insight you can share would be most welcome.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
The first thing I would look at is the protein content of the flour you are using. Is it in the 10.5-12% range? I’m assuming that you’re using a mature poolish, indicating that your yeast is active. Next, I would be sure to mix the dough to medium development (i.e., when pulling a windowpane with a small amount of dough, the dough doesn’t tear and can be seen to have threads of gluten within an otherwise thin, translucent film). A tight shaping will also contribute to providing a good oven spring. I would also check to make sure that the baguettes are not overproofing (see the finger press test described in the post). Finally, try just placing a long pan over your baguettes right after you load them onto your baking stone. The moisture given off by the baking baguettes, if confined to the space immediately surrounding the baguettes, should be enough to delay the setting of the crust and enable maximum oven spring.
Steve,
Thank you for your advice. They came out much better than last time. Still looking very much a home creation but moving towards the “feast of the eyes!”
I expect the biggest difference came from putting a pan over the baguettes; however I do suspect I was over-proofing as well. I will have to pay more attention to the amount of yeast and the ambient temperature of the kitchen.
Just to show you how much of a novice I am. I did not take the pan off the top of the baguettes until the very end. They of course the baguettes were soft and doughy cooked through and through, with an internal temperature of 200F. I kept them in for another 10 minutes to get some semblance of colour. I assume that I should have taken the pan off half way through the baking cycle.
Thanks again,
Tom
Steve,
I finally tried your method last week and must say that it turned out really well. Next time I’ll try to improvise some sort of steam in to the oven to see how it changes the crust because the crust wasn’t so impressive. I’m thinking about hooking up some sort of a hose to my tea kettle – what’d you think? Here’s my full concept post with a drawing: http://www.cckid.com/tea-kettle-steamer/
Nick, I remember reading some time ago about someone who connected a length of copper tubing to a tea kettle and ran the tubing through the vent in his oven so that he could introduce steam directly into his oven without having to open the oven door. He claimed it worked pretty well for him.
Just stumbled upon your blog and wanted you to know that it’s /incredible/! I’ve only recently become involved with baking, so we seem to be in the same boat — only you are much, much farther upstream in terms of practice, knowledge, hands-on experience and, well, everything. I’ll be trying this recipe soon!
Cheers,
Liz
Hi Liz,
Welcome to Bread cetera! I hope you enjoy your visits here and find information and tips that will help you throughout your bread baking adventures.
this is an awesome recipe. I use something similar to this, but mine is from Anis Boubasa who is a french baker known for his baguette in paris.
You can check his baguette recipe out at my site and a step by step instruction on how to bake the baguette.
Hi SteveB,
What beautiful baguettes you have there! I am planning on making your recipe this week. I do not have any couches though and I would like to improvise/make my own (without having to use kitchen towels). What kind of fabric should I use in making these couches? What other suggestions can you provide?
Also, can you please give me the appx temperature of the water above (for the final dough). I don’t really understand the temp formulas and I don’t want to have to come up with it on my own ( i know I’ll screw it up and that part alone will likely discourage me from making this bread).
Finally, can I ferment my poolish more than 12 hrs. If I make it the night before, I won’t be able to get to the full recipe until later the next day, after work. I hope that very long fermentation won’t kill it. If it does, then I won’t be able to make the baguettes until this weekend. Thanks Steve.
Mado,
The best fabric to use for a couche is untreated linen canvas. If linen is unavailable, then any untreated lint-free fabric should work fine.
An easy-to-follow explanation on how to calculate the required water temperature can be found here. If you want to be able to bake good bread, you really need to take the time and make the effort to learn how to perform this simple calculation.
The time it takes for a poolish, or any preferment for that matter, to reach maturity is dependent upon the amount of yeast in the preferment as well as the temperature at which the preferment is held. If you want your poolish to take longer than 12 hours to reach maturity, then either lower the temperature or use less yeast.
Excellent looking baguettes you have there, just like I buy in France (when I’m there at least). I have some Type 55 flour, so will try your recipe v soon.
I really enjoy your blog entires – thanks for posting. Your perfectionism is to be applauded!
Yes the baguettes do look great on the outside. I would like to see the “crumb” of the bread as well. If you wouldn’t mind to up-load some pictures it would be great to see, and understand the hydration rates used in making your baguettes.
Hi Joel,
“Baguettes with Poolish” was one of the first posts I made to this blog over two years ago and at that time I wasn’t as diligent in taking photos of the crumb of my breads as I am today. A photo of a suitable crumb structure for a baguette can be seen heading the post “Baguettes à la Bouabsa”, shown here.
Hello – Great blog you have here. Already a fan! I am planning on baking this bread, but have a few questions beforehand: You mention “(all the poolish)” which is about 21.2 oz, but it says 5.2 oz next to 1lb. Am I missing something or is there a chance any of these might be typos? Because 1 lb = 16 oz, which is neither 21.2 nor 5.2. Also, in the final dough it specifies 1 lb with 5.4 oz next to it. I am a bit confused at this point and would appreciate it if you can clarify.
Gri, the recipe Poolish is made with 10.6 oz each of water and flour, which totals 21.2 oz.
1 lb, 5.4 oz = 16 + 5.2 = 21.2 oz
I don’t understand your confusion.
C’est reussi…j’ai reussi! I made your French baguette recipe today and the breads came out looking PERFECT! I do not have that beautiful shine that your baguette has but everything else was just perfect. Here are a few tweaks I did with respect to this recipe:
Since my kitchen is fairly cool this time of year, I added 1/4 tsp of instant yeast to the final dough. I also transferred some techniques I recently learned with another recipe to this one and things turned out great. Rather than mix all of the final dough’s ingredients directly to the poolish, I started out combining all of the final dough’s dry ingredients together and then set it aside. I then added the water (alone) to the poolish, stirred the whole thing for about a minute until the poolish looked and had the feel of a wet pancake batter. I then incorporated the the dry ingredients to the poolish. After everything was well mixed and the flour fully hydrated (it took appx 2 min), I covered the dough and let it rest for 20 min. I then stretched and folded the dough onto itself (it took about 7-8 folds to cover the entire dough), turned the odd looking ball upside down (making sure I had pulled the dough’s skin to form a boule), covered and let it rest another 20 min. Repeated the stretch and fold a second time, turned the dough upside down again and let it ferment between 60 to 80 min. I never used the 15 min slap and fold technique recommended herein and my dough still developed the strong gluten it needed with that 2 simple stretch and fold and 20 min rests. The baguettes came out looking beautiful and well “spring”, with a crumb fulled with airy holes. They tasted just as wonderful.
Thank you SteveB for putting this recipe and steaming technique out there for all of us and for allowing an amateur home baker to share in this exciting bread baking experience.
Mado,
Congratulations on your baguette baking success!
As you’ve discovered, there are a number of techniques available to the baker that will develop the dough to the appropriate degree, including machine mixing, ‘slap and fold’ hand mixing and ‘stretch and fold’ hand mixing. Each of these techniques can be used in the production of a wide variety of different breads.
HI,
i have been trying to bake baguettes all the time but i was not able to do it well until i made them according to your recipe and your shaping technique ….the result was unbelievable….4 beautiful, flavorful, tasteful, and full of many other things baguettes ….and you know whats the most desirable? that all gone in about one hour by family members….;)
Steve,
Is the stainless steel Buffet tray preheated to oven temp. before it is placed over bread/bread stone or is it placed in at room temp? If it’s at room temp when placed in oven doesn’t the steam condense into water droplet and soak bread and also significantly reduce oven temp.?
Hi John,
It is not necessary to pre-heat the stainless steel buffet tray. The amount of steam one introduces during steaming is equivalent to a fairly small amount of water, far too little to ‘soak’ the bread. It will, however, condense on the surface of the relatively cooler loaf, producing the desirable effect of gelatinizing the surface starch and delaying the onset of crust formation, thus allowing the loaf to experience its maximum oven spring.
That is one perfect looking baguette. You are an excellent maker! I don’t think it could get any better than that. I am truly impressed. Awesome job!!
2 questions-
1) You say: “Once the first fermentation was judged complete, the dough was divided into 4 equal pieces, by weight, and each piece was given a gentle round pre-shaping. The dough pieces were then covered with plastic and allowed to rest for 20 min.”
Why is it necessary to rest the dough piece? Why can’t it be shaped into a baguette immediately?
2) You say: “….baked in a 450oF oven for 20 min., with steam being supplied during the first 10 mins. via a hand steamer.” Is that 10 minutes of continuous steam? Or every few minutes a blast of steam? Or something else?
Hi Fred,
Pre-shaped dough pieces are allowed to rest before their final shaping in order to allow the gluten to relax. Without this relaxation, the dough can be overly elastic and difficult to shape, resulting in tearing.
For details on my steaming technique, see here.
Hi Steve
First can I say what an interesting site.
I have baked many a loaf prior to and since moving to France, we are very lucky in our village that we have a fine baker, his baguettes are superb!!!!!
Now I have baked many loafs as I said previously, mainly speciality breads but I would like to try my hand at baguettes, so tonight (it is half past midnight here) I have just started my Poolish ready for the morning but my problems have already started…………
I had to convert your measurements to metric i.e. 10.6 ozs = 300g
but when I added 300g of water it hardly mixed the flour so I just kept adding water till the mix was like thick cream, fingers crossed will see how it turns out in the morning
Great site, will enjoy reading the rest of it.
All the best from France
Bonjour Stephen,
One thing to keep in mind is that the recipes on this site have been formulated using American flours. French flours typically behave quite differently from American flours, often requiring less water to produce a dough or preferment of comparable consistency (interestingly, antithetical to what you’ve described). Be that as it may, when making the poolish, adding 300 g of water to 300 g of French T55 or T65 flour should yield a paste of medium to thin consistency.
I look forward to hearing the results of your efforts!
Bonjour Steve
Used T55 to make the poolish.
Steve please note I am just telling you how it happened “No complaints”
The poolish looked good the following afternoon I then continued adding the flour (T45) water, yeast and salt as per your instructions but this resulted in a really wet mix? Mess is a better discription, chucked it all in the Kenwood and kept adding flour until it looked like dough Ahhh!!!!!! OK back to bread making allowed it to rest for an hour, cut it into three, kneaded for a minute or two and formed it into loafs, covered with a tea cloth and whacked oven to full speed, we have an Italian made oven, gas jets in bottom, which gets Really Hot ( sorry have not taken temp) does a pizza in 5/6 minutes, great results (my wood burning oven in the garden is about two thirds done, more on that later) put loafs into oven plus icecubes in bottom cooked for 10 minutes turned down a little and cooked for a further 20 minutes checked and they where done, a little too hard underneath should have turned it lower after the first 10 minutes but boy did they taste good, I was quite pleased with the results the taste and spring was really good, so thank you Steve.
Will try again soon as 2 loafs now in freezer, and will keep you informed.
Bon chance
StephenM
Bonjour Stephen,
Your experience fits much better with what I described previously, i.e., that French flours absorbs less water than American flours to yield a dough of comparable consistency. Next time, try using the specified quantity of flour and add only the amount of water necessary to arrive at the desired dough consistency.
Hi Steve,
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your site! Thank you so much for your willingness to share your knowledge of bread baking. I have to ask, am I missing something or have you not made a new entry since 2010? How can we get you out of retirement?
Ari
Hi Ari,
You haven’t missed anything. It’s been awhile since I last posted. A steady income without having to work would go a long way towards getting me out of blogging retirement!
hey steve. could you describe your steamer… I can only see a small picture and no description on this site. thanks
Hi George,
The hand-held steamer I use is the SteamFast SF-227, although I would imagine that any hand-held steamer with a small nozzle could be used.
Hey Steve. Well I purchased a full sized stainless stell serving pan and 3/4 inch oven stones. I did a 20 minute autlolysis befoe adding salt that I dissolved in a couple of tablespoons of water from the recipe. ( I thought it would incorporate into the dough better. I also added a short folding after 1 1/2 ferment and another 30 minute to get the right consistency. I am spraying water into the pan after the bread is placed on the stones. The bread turned out great with a nice “open” crumb that I have been striving for. The only thing that is lacking is a nice “ear” to the grigne. It opens up nice but I don’t get that raised edge at all. Is it possible that I am using too much water. The bread practically doubles in size from baking alone.
Steve. after reading my above note to you. I’m surprised that it would make any sense to you. I did not use a steamer. I just gave the bread a healthy spray of water. before putting the lid on. Also the second batch I made I thought that I wasn”t deep enough with my cuts. Instead of a double edge razor I actually used a scissors. This gave me a much larger opening which is appealing but I still can not obtain that nice “ear” on the grigne.
Hi George,
A number of factors contribute to the way in which a grigne opens. These include the level of dough hydration, dough development, tightness of shaping, correct level of final proofing, scoring technique, etc. I would suggest staying with a double-edged razor as a scoring tool. If you can’t get a good grigne with the razor, then you may want to try varying some of the parameters mentioned above.
[...] feel and smell and behave like they ought to. Just missing a bit of bubbles. Recipe is from here, Baguettes with poolish. Gotta keep [...]
hi steve,
i am a novice baker and going through your recipes make me both hopeful, inspired and excited to bake again. i’ve stopped making bread recently as i was quite discouraged with the results of having the base of the loaves being dense and chewy instead of light and fluffy (for breads like raisin, cheese and herb loaves).
would appreciate it if you can help answer some questions.
1. can i use boiling water in a tray as a steamer if i dont have a hand-held steamer?
2. this is a dumb question – how would i transfer the proofed loaves from the couche to the oven? and would the baking be done on a granite sab?
3. how would i know what is the right way to knead dough and when it’s proofed enough?
sorry for the slew of questions but i am quite determined to be good at baking bread at home so that my family doesn’t need to eat store bought ones all the time.
thank you!
Janey, I have been experimenting with making baguettes at home now for almost a year. I have found 3 items that I think are helpful for making a great baguette. I would not use granite stones. Purchase legitimate oven stones. I use 4 tiles that I slide together. 2nd I use a “super peel” ( superpeel.com) this transfers the bread dough very easily to the oven with no mess. ( Also can use to slide pizza into oven) I put the dough on a strip of parchment paper and after the final rise, slide it on the peel and then slide it onto the stones. 3rd. I have a large metal buffet serving pan that fits over the stones and is deep enough to allow the bread to rise. I then just use a spray bottle and spray under this pan. It will hold the steam in. I have heard that spraying directly into your oven may damage the oven. This confines the steam to under the pan.
Good Luck
Hi Janey,
Addressing your questions in turn:
1) Any steaming method that envelopes your loaves with steam for the first few minutes of baking can be used. I happen to use the ‘inverted hotel pan with hand-steamer’ method because my gas-fueled oven is vented and doesn’t hold steam very well (the inverted hotel pan serves to trap the steam around my loaves). If your oven is sealed well enough to trap steam and not vent it (and if your oven’s electronic controls won’t short out due to the presence of steam), then splashing hot water into a simple steaming tray should work fine.
2) I make use of a SuperPeel to perform the transfer. A video of the procedure can be found here. If you do not already have one, I would suggest getting a baking stone with a minimum of 1/2″ thickness. If you already have a granite slab to fit your oven, then I would give it a try. Some people have claimed success in using granite for a baking surface.
3) There are a number of different ways to knead bread dough. Try experimenting to see which one is right for you. This video should get you started. Regarding proofing times, I would first start with a known recipe with a given proofing temperature and time. With practice, you’ll begin to be able to tell by changes in the dough when the dough has sufficiently proofed (hint, it doesn’t always have to do with volume increase).
hi steve,
wow! that’s all i could say for a few minutes after i read your advice and the video of how you transferred bread into the oven. i want one SuperPeel myself! haha. i may be able to rustle up a cover for the steaming part but it doesn’t have the opening like the one in your video for the water. i read somewhere that it is possible to use the steam from the bread dough itself to do the steaming? or should i place a small container or hot water within the cover together with the dough as well?
i have a bread peel that i use for transferring pizzas onto the granite slab but always have a problem of the dough sticking to the peel and destroying the structure and often having a collapsed loaf
even when i sprinkle an abundance of flour on the peel beforehand. i was thinking if i should place the dough on a liberally dusted parchment paper before placing it on the peel first? in your opinion would that help? apologies for all the questions but looking at your website, recipes and videos, i am so inspired to bake bread again 
in fact, i am attempting the focaccia loaf that you have posted with the poolish sitting in the fridge now 
thank you!
janey
Janey…. Use corn meal not flour if you want to slide dough off your peel. They are like little “ball bearings” If you use parchment paper you do not need to use flour or corn meal. I just cut a thin strip of parchment and put the dough on it for the final proof. Then just lift the parchment onto the peel. Slide the parchment/dough right onto your stone. No need to remove the parchment until after backing
Used your recipe, on first did not use manual just my kitchenaid ,was tasteful but some minor big hole ,did put less salt due to my outdated yeast from 2009,on the next batch added more salt and rad all your post. started mixing manual than mixer and back to manual, they exploded tried your folding tech with a new twist ,as i spread before folding i stretch the dough to a breaking point creating more space for air to be entrap. Did not use steam just a sprayer but i added hickory smoke flavor to the water to give an effect of wood stove it work. Tks for all the information you provided so far the most accurate result to my holey crusade
Janey,
The small hole near the top of the inverted hotel pan was made using a simple electric hand drill. If you use a small enough cover over your bread such that the the dough fills most of the volume of the inverted cover, then the moisture released by the loaf while it bakes should be sufficient to allow for maximum oven spring. In that case. additional steam should not need to be introduced.
As George mentioned, transfer of your loaves to the oven can be accomplished by a couple of methods:
1) You can proof your loaves on a parchment paper-covered oven peel or inverted cookie tray. After proofing, the parchment paper/loaf combination can then be slid directly onto your baking stone or
2) Using a transfer peel (shown in the video mentioned above), you can transfer the proofed loaves to an oven peel liberally sprinkled with corn meal. The corn meal will prevent the loaves from sticking to the oven peel and allow for easy placement of the loaves onto your baking stone. Eventually, after you gain proficiency with this method, you’ll find that you can substitute regular flour for the cornmeal.
Hi Mario,
I think you’ll find that it is easier to obtain a more open crumb structure through hand mixing than through the use of a KitchenAid mixer (although it does take a bit more time and energy!).
thanks for all the information and advice, Steve! thanks George too!
i made a loaf of focaccia with your recipe and it worked beautifully, definitely one of the best results i have ever achieved since i baked my first loaf. thank you for being so patient with the questions.
will attempt more bread recipes and hopefully i have good results to report back
Hello, i am new to this website and have tried to get in touch with the oracle, Steve. when trying this i am unable to send the information as there is a box that says 1 + 1? Not sure what to put in this as without the correct information my message will not send. says something like incorrect response to challenge? Any ideas.
Much appreciated if any light could be shed on this,
Thanks
Ah, i see this is the way to message, oops!