Home Oven Baked French Bread -- Baguette

Home baking baguette is very doable. There is nothing more difficult than baking any other bread. It is just a little bit different process. The baguette uses the simplest ingredients ever. Flour (half all-purpose and half bread flour), salt, yeast and water. The long fermentation process develop its unique flavor. The sauna baking method creates its crunchy crust.

Cut the baguette open. We can see the big bubbles and small bubbles. This unique structure was created by the different stages of the fermentation process. 

The original recipe is from  The Bread Baker's Apprentice.
To make four medium loaves

 Pâte Fermentée

1 ¹/₈  cups (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ¹/₈  cups (5 ounces) unbleached bread flour

³/₄ teaspoon (.19 ounce) salt

¹/₂ teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast

³/₄  cup to ³/₄ cup plus 2 tablespoons (6-7 ounces) water, at room temperature

Dough:

All Pâte Fermentée from above (3 cups 16 ounces)

1 ¹/₄  cups (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ¹/₄  cups (5 ounces) unbleached bread flour

³/₄ teaspoon (.19 ounce) salt

¹/₂ teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast

flour for dusting

Day one

1. Mix all ingredients for Pâte Fermentée. Make a dough. Knead the dough about 5 minutes until it is not sticky. 

2. Ferment the dough for about one and half hour or until the it is 1.5 times of its original size.

3. Gently knead the dough to degas it, and return it back to the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge overnight. 

The second day.

4. Take out all the Pâte Fermentée one hour before make the dough. Cut it into 10 pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.

5. Mix all the rest ingredient with the Pâte Fermentée. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and not sticky. 

6. Ferment the dough at room temperature for 2 hours. If the dough doubles in size before 2 hours and have elapsed, knead the dough lightly to degas and let it rise again, covered , until it doubles from the original size. 

5. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Shape them into long logs as baguettes. 

6. Proof at room temperature for 45 to 75 minutes, or until the loaves have grown to about 1.5 times their original size. 

7. Preheat the oven to 500 °F. Leave an additional baking pan with boiling water inside the oven.

8. Dust the baguettes with flour and score them. 

9. Transfer the baguettes to the hot oven. I bake two baguettes at a time.
10. Splash half cup of hot water onto the heating wires at the bottom of the oven. Close the oven. Wait 30 seconds and splash another half cup of hot water. Repeat after another 30 seconds. All together 3 times. Close the oven door, and 5 minutes later reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Bake for additional 20-25 minutes.
11. When done, transfer them to a cooling rack.