Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups tap water, heated to 115 degrees
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- canola oil (for greasing bowl)
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup ice cubes
Preparation
Step 1
Whisk together the water and the yeast in a large bowl. Allow to sit until the yeast is foamy and begins to smell like yeast/bread, about 10 minutes.
Add flour to the yeast and stir with a fork until all flour is absorbed and a dough forms. Allow dough to sit, about 20 minutes. Add salt to dough, gently pressing it into the dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until elastic, about 10 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky; when needed, add more flour to the work surface and to your hands in order to knead more efficiently. Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a cold oven in order to allow the dough to double in size, about 45 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into an 8"x6" rectangle. Fold the 8" side toward the middle of the rectangle, then fold the shorter sides toward the center. Return the dough, seam side down, to the greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and return to oven until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Remove the bowl from the oven. Place a clean cast iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven. Position another rack above the skillet and place a baking stone on it. Heat oven to 475 degrees.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and cut into three equal pieces. Shape each piece into a 14" rope. Flour a sheet of parchment paper and place on a baking sheet. Place the dough ropes, evenly spaced, onto the floured paper. Lift and gently crease the paper in between each rope in order to form pleats. Place two tightly rolled kitchen towels under the long edges of the paper in order to create support for the loaves. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to sit until the dough doubles in size, about 50 minutes.
Remove the plastic wrap and the towels and flatten the creases on the parchment paper in order to space out the loaves. Using a sharp paring knife, slash the top of each baguette at 30-degree angles in four spots, being cautious to slash (and not tear) the dough. Slide the parchment paper (with the dough still evenly spaced on top of it) onto the baking stone. Place the ice cubes in the skillet and close the oven door in order to allow steam to immediately form. Very carefully (to avoid steam burns) open the oven door approximately every 10 minutes in order to add more ice cubes (there should always be steam in the oven to avoid the loaves burning). Bake for a total of 30 minutes.