Baguettes

By á-25087

Ingredients

• 500 g All-Purpose Flour
• 375 g Water
• 10 g Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Instant Yeast

Preparation

Step 1

The flour, salt and yeast are all mixed together in a large bowl. A central well is then formed in the flour mixture and 325 g of the water is added to the well. The water is gently stirred with one hand, gradually drawing in all of the flour mixture until a rough dough is formed. The bowl is then covered with plastic wrap and the dough is allowed to rest for an period of 30 minutes.

The dough is tipped onto a work surface and hand-mixed using the slap-and-fold technique. Approximately 200 slap-and-folds were required to reach a moderate level of gluten development. The dough is then placed back into its bowl and the remaining 50 g of water is added. The water is then incorporated into the dough by further hand mixing, this time through the stretch-and-fold technique. At the beginning of the mixing, the dough will be very wet and slosh around the bowl, but the mixing is continued until all the water is incorporated. The bowl is then once again covered with plastic wrap and the dough is allowed to undergo a 1 hour fermentation at ambient temperature, with 6-8 stretch-and-folds being performed every 20 minutes during the 1 hour period. After the one hour ambient temperature fermentation, the dough is placed in the refrigerator and allowed to ferment for an additional 21 hours at 40ºF.

After the 21 hour fermentation period, the dough is removed from the refrigerator and allowed to warm to ambient temperature for 1 hour. The dough is then divided into two pieces of equal weight and each piece is pre-shaped into a short cylinder. The dough pieces are then covered with a plastic sheet and allowed to rest for 15 minutes. Each piece is then shaped into a baguette, laid onto a floured couche and allowed to proof at 78ºF for 45 minutes. The baguettes are then scored and baked in a 480ºF oven for 20 minutes, the first 10 minutes of which were under steam.