How to Bake a Perfect Baguette
Baking is really just effort, practice and patience combined with a perfect recipe. Baguettes are a good medium for mastering all three skills.
Like many people, I’ve done more baking in the last few months than in the last few years. I love to bake, and there are a few things that now I feel I am able to do quite well. Pie crust, which I once bought in the refrigerated case at my local market, I now make easily from scratch. There is no comparison. My pie crusts are flakey, light and crisp and melt in your mouth along with whatever filling they are graced to hold.
But today is all about the baguette. This wonder in bread is so much about technique and patience, repetition and intuition. It is a simple recipe, only four ingredients: flour, yeast, salt and water. 3 cups, a half teaspoonful, a healthy pinch and 1 cup and a half (or so) of warm, (warm as in not hot or cold but comfortable) respectfully.
The technique is easy, at first. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. I use a large bowl with an airtight cover, I’ve had it for years, and until my baguette baking began I used it almost exclusively for salads. It is rarely empty of dough now.
There are some additional tools you’ll need for this recipe: a smooth kitchen towel…
