Quick Homemade Baguettes
Servings: 2 baguettes
Quick Homemade Baguettes with a crisp, shattering crust and an airy, open crumb, made start to finish in under four hours using active dry yeast instead of an overnight ferment. The lava rock steam method gives you bakery-level results at home, no special equipment required beyond what's already in your kitchen.
Print
Pin
Ingredients
- 250 g All Purpose Flour
- 250 g Bread Flour
- 375 g Warm Water
- 14 g Active Dry Yeast
- 20 g Olive Oil
- 10 g Salt
Instructions
- Add the warm water, oil, and yeast to a large bowl. Allow it to bloom for 5 minutes.
- Next, add your flour and salt. Mix with your hands until evenly combined, roughly 5 minutes.
- Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Then, perform a set of stretch-and-folds. Repeat this rest and stretch-and-fold sequence one more time.
- Cover the dough and allow it to rise for 1.5-2 hours, until it has nearly doubled in size.
- Remove the dough onto a clean shaping surface and divide it into two even pieces.
- Pre-shape the dough. With circular motions, scrape the dough under itself and toward you to create an oval shape. Unlike a traditional sourdough loaf, pre-shaping into an oval, rather than a circle, will help the shaping process. Lightly flour and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- To shape your baguette, flip the pre-shaped ball of dough upside down onto a lightly floured surface so that the smooth side is touching the counter. Stretch the dough into a rectangle with the long side closest to you.
- Starting at the top of the rectangle (the top long side), bring the edge to the center of the rectangle. Press down to seal. Then, fold it again until it is ¾ of the way down the rectangle. Press to seal. Lastly, fold the dough over itself one more time until you’ve rolled the entire rectangle into a long log. Press to seal this edge very thoroughly.
- With the palms of your hands, begin rolling the baguette outward, starting in the middle and progressively moving to the edges.
- Place your shaped baguettes onto a parchment lined baking sheet and preheat your oven to 450°F.
- Place a metal roasting pan filled with lava rocks into the oven while it preheats. Boil the water and have it ready as soon as you load the baguettes into the oven.
- Score the baguettes. For standard baguettes, I recommend (3) diagonal slashes down the length of the baguette.
- Put the baguettes into the oven and immediately pour the boiling water over the lava rocks. Quickly close the oven door.
- Bake with the steam for 15 minutes. Then, release the steam by opening the oven door. Bake for an additional 115-20 minutes, until the baguettes are deeply golden, light, and sound hollow when tapped.
- Allow the baguettes to cool completely on a wire rack before enjoying.