Homemade Baguette 自家焗法棍

          My homemade baguette has a very crispy and crunchy crust, which does not soften as it cools down.
          I have no baking stone.  I don't use any kitchen towels.  My oven is not a pro oven,  it is only a common convection heat oven.  But the baguettes come out with thin crispy chewy crust, soft interior with the aroma of freshly baked bread.  😋

           What is the secret of making a crispy crust without considerably softened within minutes? 
          Actually this open secret is semolina.  Sprinkle fine semolina will give a crunchy crispy crust.
          And the amount of steam during the early stage baking will determine the thickness of the crust.  The more the steam, the thicker will be the crust.

        Look at the crumb, as usual, I use old dough (pate fermente) for baking, which yields a very satisfactory texture. 
        For more alveoli of various sizes, it is suggested to use the poolish, which I have not tried before. 😀

        

         The reason for not using kitchen towel is... do not want more to do for the cleaning.
         Where scoring is considered, it is desired to make it more diagonal or more parallel lengthwise.
          The slashing wasn't perfect as I use knife which is not as good as a blade.  And I use non-stick baking paper instead of linen couche. Hahaha... I get a lot of excuses.
          To improve the  grigne, I have to cut deeply enough and sufficient steam for the ear forming.

         I purposely left a portion of the baguette in fridge for 3 days.  Then grill it with my  homemade garlic with herbs spread.  It's so yummy, so delicieux!   😋

          After gibberish, here comes my recipe.  Try if you dare. LOL.  Give me an applause (not comment, as I do not open any comment) if you succeed.

Recipe

• Bread flour 320g
• Cake flour 80g
• Sugar 10g
• Salt 1 &1/2 teaspoon
• Unsalted butter 20g
• Instant dry yeast   2 teaspoon
• Warm water (40C) 240cc
• Old dough 50g

Steps

1. Mix the ingredients and knead the dough.
2. Use oil rather than flour on the working table when kneading, this will not alter the dough's consistency and will prevent the sticky-hand syndrome.
3. Let the dough sit on a bowl proofing for 1 hour, flip over and proof for another 45 minutes or until it passes "the finger-press test " (press the fingertip into the dough and the groove remains).
4. Degas and divide the dough into 2 portions.
5. Let them rest for 20 minutes.
6. Do the shaping, spray water on the shaped baguette dough and sprinkle fine semolina.  I 'pat' the dough  with semolina flour thoroughly.
7. Let the dough have second proofing on either kitchen towels or linen couche or baking paper like mine for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or double its size.
8. In the middle rack, place the baking tray.  While in the lower rack, put a metallic plate. Preheat the oven at 220C for at least half an hour.
9. Slash the dough. Grab the corner of the baking paper and carefully put the dough onto the HEATED baking tray. (So I skip all the rolling or sliding steps, I simply put the dough with the baking paper onto the baking tray)
10. Spray water onto the dough, pour cold water into the hot metallic plate. Shut the oven door quickly.  This will create steam for the baking and hence the crust of the baguette!  So this step must run smoothly and fast.
11. Spray water 10-15 minutes after. Repeat this step again.(Optional)
12. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the baguette is golden brown. Tap the bottom of the baguette  and it sounds hollow means it's done.
13. Cool the baguette on a rack.

ps.  Classical French-style baguette is made from wheat flour, water, yeast and salt only.  But some recipes do adding small amounts of milk, butter, or sugar, depending on the desired flavour and properties in the final loaf.