Baguette Class

Bread is amazing. Just think about it…its only flour, water, salt, and yeast, and yet together with time, some kneading and baking, it turns into a light, flavorful, crusty creation. I am very fortunate to have learned to bake my first bread - baguettes - from the experts at King Arthur Flour. If you don’t already know, the KAF brand flours and products are the absolute best. After years of using their products, recipes, and tips, I thought it was time to make the trip to the Baker’s Store and Education Center in Norwich, Vermont. We used this Baguette Recipe.

Baguettes use a pre-fermentation or “poolish”, which is a mix of equal parts water and flour, with a pinch of yeast, that ferments at room temperature for 15 hours. The poolish we used in class was made the day before. The poolish is then mixed with more flour, water, salt, and yeast.

We used plastic scrapers to do the mixing, which worked well to cut into the dough and combine thoroughly. The written instructions said to mix into “a shaggy mess” - I think it looks pretty shaggy and messy. The baguette dough needs to be relatively wet, so I poured in a bit more water.

This is my dough after pulling and stretching it. Working the dough develops the gluten and enhances the flavor. That was the most fun, although it requires some patience to get the technique right, but then I developed a rhythm and it was quite enjoyable. 

After the mixing, the dough needs to rise for an hour and a half. Then it’s time for the shaping. This was also a technique process, and it is difficult to explain without diagrams, so my apologies if this is not clear. The dough is shaped into a rectangle and patted down. Then, the top 1/3 is folded onto itself, then the bottom 1/3. Now the process is repeated, except this time the dough is pulled and sealed onto itself using the heal of your hand. 

I am finishing this baguette. Rolling it back and forth to smooth out the shape. 

The baguettes are placed on a clouche, which is a special non-stick towel used in bread making. The bread needs to rest for an additional 30-40 minutes. 

There almost ready to bake, but first is another technique - scoring the loaves to allow the bread to expand and to enhance the appearance. This was not too easy for me, we used a lame, which is essentially a razor on a stick. The technique involved slicing the loaf quickly and evenly, making the cuts just deep enough, and spaced just right. I will need lots of practice to get this right.

The baguettes were baked in the huge oven behind the rack in the picture. We learned how to create a sufficient substitution using our home ovens - preheat at 500 degrees for 30 minutes, place the baking stone on the upper shelf and a cast iron skillet on the lower shelf. At 30 minutes, pour 1 cup of boiling water in the skillet, it will create instant steam, and place the loaves on the stone. Turn the oven to 450 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

We sampled a loaf - it was warm, perfectly crusty on the outside, and soft and flavorful in the inside. Fortunately, we were able to bring 5 loaves home with us, unfortunately for my wallet, I was compelled to make my 3rd stop in the Baker’s Store and purchase everything I would need to make bread at home.