Richard Bertinet Baguette
Ingredients:
35 oz / 1000g bread flour (strong)
0.7 oz / 20g Fresh yeast
- 0.35 oz / 10g if using dry instant yeast
24.5 fl oz / 700g Water
0.7 oz / 20g Salt
Directions:
Pour water into a stand mixer bowl, then add flour. Rub yeast in hands with a bit of flour into the bowl. Keep the salt to the side for now.
Turn mixer on, slow speed for 4 minutes (2 if using half the ingredients). Then, slowly add the salt, and let the mixer go for another 4 minutes (2 if using half the ingredients).
Turn the dough out (releasing it from the sides of the bowl first helps), do not add a lot of flour to your surface. “Take the dough for a walk.” Keep the top of the dough facing upwards, then using a dough scraper rotate the dough and move it around– keeping the top upright the whole time.
Now dough won’t be sticky on top, lightly dust with flour, dust a bowl with flour, then rest the dough in a bowl, covered with a towel for an hour. Next, rest it overnight in the fridge covered with a plastic bag and towel. The plastic bag prevents that hard crust like texture from building up on the raw dough, keeps it moist.
First, put some flour down on your board. Using your scraper, release the dough.Turn the bowl upside down and just dump it out, so the bottom of the bowl is facing up. Using the scraper, separate out 5.30 oz / 150g (6-12 depending on recipe scale) portions of the dough– you don’t want them too big. Try to be precise, any extra bits of dough should be cut off and put on top of the rectangular piece on the scale (if you need to add weight).
Before you shape, clear the flour away, you don’t want that going everywhere and getting inside the dough. Lay out one of the rectangular portions (remember to keep the extra bit on top, if there is any). Then, press your fingers into the middle, making a dent / spine. Now, fold the top half (above the spine) of the dough towards you, pressing the edge down into the spine with your fingers, to seal the dough. Finally, take the top right edge of the dough and fold it over towards the bottom right edge, pinching down with your thumb/palm to seal it– continue along the length of the dough until done.
To roll the dough into the baguette shape. Put your hands on the edges, away from the middle, then push hard and roll the dough out and back, three times. Then, place the shaped loaf onto your linen / shaping cloth. Leave your loaves on the cloth, covered with another towel for 20 minutes to proof. While you are waiting, preheat your oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit, with a cast iron skillet on the bottom– you can use a baking dish if you don’t have a skillet… BE CAREFUL OF THERMAL SHOCK IF DOING THIS (don’t use pyrex it will explode)
Transfer your loaves to a paddle (if you have one), make sure to dust with a bit of semolina or flour on the bottom so they don’t stick (if doing this part, sometimes I just go straight to the pan and score there). Dust the tops with some flour. Then, do 2-3 long vertical cuts with a bread lame. Make sure to keep the lame at a 45 degree angle, but cutting straight towards yourself (not on the sides or diagonally along the loaf). This lets you control where the gas escapes to when baking. If you don’t score the bread, it just escapes in the weakest part of the dough– which is how you end up with the side of a loaf blown open. Once scored, place your loaf (or loaves if multiple) onto the baking sheet and prepare to bake.
Make sure the oven is at 450-475 F (test this), put your sheet with the loaves onto the middle rack– if using a baking stone, just directly slide the raw loaves onto that using your wooden peel.Then, pour boiling water into the cast iron skillet (adding several large ice cubes works as well) and quickly shut the door. This creates a moist, steamy environment which helps with the crust and aeration during the bake.
If you are batch prepping loaves, you can stop at about 5-7 minutes into the bake and pull the loaves. Parbaking until here lets you freeze these and bake them later, while maintaining the freshness and texture. The crust should have started to form on the top and bottom already. Simply take them out and freeze them. Later, defrost the baguette and then finish baking it before enjoying.
Notes:
It seems 20-23 minutes at 425~ works for par baking as well
Adding the salt while it’s going ended up with the best dough I’ve had yet
Make sure to release the dough, then dump it upside down when beginning the shaping
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8clAqfrk-pk
https://www.gozney.com/blogs/recipes/french-baguettes-recipe?fromsocial=true