SOURDOUGH BAGUETTES

By efriend

Ingredients

• 283g lukewarm water
• 482g sourdough starter, ripe (fed) or discard (see "tips," below)
• 539g to 602g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 to 2 teaspoons instant yeast, depending on the vigor of your fed starter*
• 4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 25mins
Cooking time 300mins

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, combine the water, starter, and 3 cups of the flour, mixing until smooth.
Stir in the salt, sugar, yeast and gluten, then an additional 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour. Stir until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding only enough additional flour as necessary; a slack (sticky) dough makes a light loaf.
Knead the dough for about 7 minutes in a stand mixer; or 8 to 10 minutes by hand, on a lightly greased work surface. You may also knead this dough using the dough cycle on your bread machine; once it's finished kneading, transfer it to a bowl to rise, as directed below.
Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.
Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into six pieces (for thin baguettes) or three pieces (for thicker Italian loaves).
Shape each piece into a 16" long loaf, and place the loaves, at least 4" apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets, or in lightly greased baguette pans (French loaf pans). If you're using baguette pans, make the loaves 15" long.
Cover the loaves with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let them rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until they're nice and puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450°F.
For a classic look, make three diagonal slashes in each loaf, cutting about 1/4" deep. For taller, rounder baguettes, don't slash.
Bake the baguettes for about 25 minutes, or until they're a rich golden brown. Remove the loaves from the oven. Turn off the oven, crack it open a few inches, and return the loaves to the cooling oven, without their pans. Letting the loaves cool right in the turned-off oven helps preserve their crunchy crust.
Yield: 6 baguettes or 3 Italian-style loaves.