I made sourdough baguettes a few times in the regular oven with added water pan for steam and the results were not so great, perhaps there was not enough steam in the big oven. The skin and color came out dull and not a lot of oven spring. Until David got me this amazing Anova Precision™ Oven and the result was astonishing, the most gorgeous baguettes I've ever seen. The flavor was amazing with a little sour tang and perfect chewy texture of the real baguette. They also freeze well, just need to either let it sit at room temperature or spray with water and wrapped in foil, heat in 400°F for 8-10 minutes and they tasted just like fresh bake.
I love theperfectloaf.com site so much I bought the book The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo. I highly recommended this book, so many great recipes and easy to follow. T
Total Dough Weight 2000 grams
Pre-fermented Flour 6.5%
Hydration 70%
Yield 6 x 325g sourdough baguettes (appx 14″ long)
Total Formula
Weight / Ingredient / Baker's Percentage
1142g / White flour,, 11.5% protein / 90%
742g / Water 1/ 65%
57g / Water 2/ 5%
21g / Salt / 1.8%
37g / Starter (100% hydration) / 3.2%
Levain (liquid & mild)
Weight / Ingredient / Baker's Percentage
37g / Mature liquid starter (100% hydration) / 50%
74g / White bread flour, malted, 11.5% protein / 100%
74g / Water / 100%
Dough Mix
The target final dough temperature (FDT) is 78°F (25°C).
Note that the table below shows the weights for the ingredients only for the final sourdough baguette dough mix. In other words, the weight of the flour here will be less than the Total Formula listed above because some flour needs to be used to build the levain, above.
Weight / Ingredient
1068g / White flour, 11.5% protein
668g / Water 1
57g / Water 2
21g / Fine sea salt
185g / Mature liquid levain
Method
1. Liquid Levain – 10:30 a.m.
Build the levain and store it somewhere around 78°F (25°C) ambient until ripe, about 3 hours.
2. Autolyse – 12:45 p.m.
Add flour and water 1 to a mixing bowl. Mix by hand until fully incorporated. Cover the bowl and let autolyse for 1 hour.
3. Mix – 1:45 p.m.
To the mixing bowl, add the liquid levain, salt, and water 2.
Mix in the bowl for 5-8 minutes until the dough starts to smooth out some. Alternatively, you could scoop the dough out to the counter and slap/fold (French fold) the dough until you see medium development (my preference and it took me about 5 minutes of mixing).
At the end of mixing, the dough won’t look incredibly smooth or firm; it’ll still look shaggy and feel slightly slack. Further strength will be imparted during bulk fermentation physically (through stretch and folds) and organically (through fermentation itself).
Transfer the dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
4. Warm Bulk Fermentation – 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
During this phase (of the two-step bulk fermentation phase), give the dough three sets of stretch and folds, starting 30 minutes after the beginning of bulk (i.e., 2:30 p.m.). After the last set, let the dough rest untouched for 15 minutes.
This warm bulk fermentation will last a total of 2 hour and 30 minutes. The dough will clearly show signs of fermentation activity: it will be smoother and show some small bubbles on the surface.
5. Cold Bulk Fermentation – 4:30 p.m. to 11:00 a.m. (next day)
At this point, you can choose to cold-bulk the dough until the next day or continue to bulk ferment the dough on the counter for a same-day bake. Same-day baguettes tend to have an even more mild flavor profile. This pushes the flavor of the grain itself forward, resulting in reduced acidity and sourness.
If you choose to make same-day baguettes, proceed with bulk fermentation on the counter until the dough looks ready to divide, likely 1-1.5 hours more. Then, shape them and proof them in the same way as described below.
If you choose to proceed with a cold bulk fermentation, place the covered bulk container into your fridge until the next day.
6. Divide & Preshape – 9:30 a.m. (next day)
Remove the dough from the fridge at 11:00 a.m.
Gently scrape the dough from the bulk container to an un-floured work surface. The dough will feel cold, slightly damp, and firm.
Divide into 325g pieces and preshape the pieces of dough into rounds or rough tubes. Because the dough is cold and firm, very little bench flour is needed to pre-shape.
Let the preshaped dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered.
7. Shape – 10:00 a.m.
Prepare a board with a kitchen towel or proofing linen (couche) to proof your shaped baguettes.
After the preshaped rounds have rested for 30 minutes, shape each piece into a long baguette, approximately 14″ long for a home oven. See how to shape the baguettes here
Proof the pieces until they pass the poke test, about 1 hour and 45 minutes at room temperature.
8. Proof – 10:30 p.m. to 12:15 p.m. Keep your proofing board away from drafts, as the dough can quickly develop a crust on the outside. It may help to drape the edges of your linen over the shaped baguettes or cover them loosely with plastic. If you cover it with plastic, be aware the dough may stick.
9. Bake – Preheat oven at 11:15 p.m., bake at 12:15 p.m.
Preheat your oven with baking stone/steel for one hour at 450°F (230°C).
To start the first baking session, ready a pizza peel lined with parchment paper. Then, using a dough transfer board (a smaller pizza peel or a small cutting board could also work), place the board to the inside of the baguette (the side closest to the rest of the dough pieces). With the hand holding the couche, quickly flip the dough onto the peel by tugging up and slightly over the transfer board. The baguette should now be seam-side down on the transfer board.
Slide the dough off the transfer board and onto the prepared pizza peel with parchment paper, seam side down, and continue until you have three pieces.
Once all three baguettes are on the parchment paper, score each with three slashes. Each slash should be reasonably shallow to the dough, and the beginning of one should overlap about 20% of the previous.
Slide the parchment paper with dough onto your baking surface. Due to the smaller mass, these baguettes will take less time to bake than a large hearth loaf.
Once you load the dough, steam the oven
Bake for 20 minutes with steam.
Then, remove the pans used for steaming, vent the oven, and turn it down to 430°F.
Bake for an additional 20 minutes until done.
Cool on a rack and repeat for the remaining three baguettes from the fridge.
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