Classic French Bread

Ingredients

• 500 g all-purpose or bread flour
• 350 g lukewarm water
• 7 g instant yeast
• 10 g fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Mix flour, water, yeast, and salt into rough dough.
2. Rest 20 minutes.
3. Knead until moderately smooth and elastic, approximately 6-8 minutes.
4. Cover and rise until doubled, approximately 60-90 minutes.
5. Gently fold/deflate. Rest 10 minutes.
6. Divide in half. Preshape into short logs. Rest 15 minutes.
7. Shape each into approximately 14-16 inch loaf.
8. Transfer to parchment-lined sheet or French bread/baguette pan.
9. Proof 35-50 minutes until puffy.
10. Preheat oven to 450F. Place an empty metal steam pan on lower rack.
11. Score each loaf with 3-5 overlapping diagonal cuts.
12. Place loaves in oven. Carefully add approximately 1 cup hot water to steam pan. Do not pour water onto oven glass.
13. Bake approximately 22-28 minutes until deeply golden. Vent steam after first 10-12 minutes if appropriate.
14. Cool on rack.

Nutrition

Chef's Notes

CHEF'S NOTES: - This is intentionally a lean dough - no butter, milk, egg, or sugar. - Steam is critical for a crisp, crackly crust. The steam pan creates the burst of steam. - Do NOT pour water onto oven glass - pour it into the preheated metal pan on the lower rack. - Score loaves with overlapping diagonal cuts for the classic French bread look. TROUBLESHOOTING: - How do I create steam? Use a preheated metal pan on the lower rack and pour hot water into it when loading bread. - Why didn't my scores open? Blade wasn't sharp enough, cuts weren't deep enough, or dough was too dry. - Can I bake without a baguette pan? Yes - use a parchment-lined sheet pan. STORAGE: Best day-of. Room temperature 1-2 days. Freeze whole. SCALING: 2x = make four loaves or two larger loaves. Rise and bake times do not scale. ALLERGENS: Contains wheat. NUTRITION NOTE: Calculated per slice (1/16 of recipe, 2 loaves) using standard USDA nutrition values.

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