lean yeast bread: the baguette is talking

until baking and pastry class, i never knew that the lovely hollow thump you hear when you tap a freshly baked baguette actually signifies it’s been baked correctly. nor did i know that it should feel light for its size, or that right when it comes out of the oven, you should hold the bread close to your ear to hear a slight crackling sound from the crust. what really struck me about these characteristics of a perfect baguette was that they are all something you can feel. until i experienced baking a lean yeast bread (meaning “no fat added”) in the presence of a seasoned baker, i had shied away from the process because i thought it was all about science. but bread is a living thing that relies on the baker for survival.

bread goes through many stages before it is baked–it is massaged and stretched, it grows and is beaten down and grows again until it is ready to take its proper shape, grow a little more and then bake to achieve its true potential. a baguette is made up of only a few ingredients–flour, salt, yeast and water. yeast is the biological leavener that causes the bread to rise.

the way Chef talks about yeast is what makes you understand that it is, in fact, a living thing. “what temperature should the water be to dissolve the yeast?” one student asked. “yeast is the happiest at the same temperature as i am,” she said. “the water should feel wet, not warm or cool.” this takes a little time and practice to understand. Chef showed us the inside-of-the-arm test, where the skin is more sensitive to the water temperature than on the hands. after a few tests, i learned the subtle difference between warm, cool and “me temperature” water. it really does just feel wet.

below is the simplest baguette recipe, made up of only bread flour, salt, fresh yeast and water, from wayne gisslin’s professional baking.

0.75 oz. fresh yeast (if using dried, use about half this amount)
1 lb. 4 oz. water, about 100 degrees F
2 lb. 2 oz. bread flour
0.67 oz. salt

in a large bowl, mix together the water and yeast. add a little bread flour and the salt. note: don’t add the salt too soon; it will kill your yeast. but if you forget it altogether, not only will your bread not taste right, but it also will turn out pale after it’s baked. gradually add more flour and stir in the bowl until it is ready to handle with your hands. flour the counter with more of your bread flour, and scrape the dough out onto the counter. begin kneading it by making a quarter turn and folding it with one hand, then pushing down and away with the other. sprinkle more flour on the counter and on the dough as needed so it doesn’t stick. this rhythmic motion is what develops the gluten in your dough.

“don’t add too much flour at once,” Chef said. “the dough takes what it needs, so don’t add too much too fast. you gotta feel it.”

you will know the dough is ready to ferment when you gently press on it with the bottom part of your finger and it springs back completely. place the dough in a warm, damp place in a container large enough to allow for it to double in size. cover it with a cloth to prevent a crust from forming on the outside. when the dough is ready it will be twice its original size. the other way to test it is to press gently again with your finger “and leave a belly button,” as Chef says. this time, the dough should not spring back because the gluten is relaxed and more elastic.

next, flop the dough out onto the counter that has been dusted with flour. pull up on one side of the dough and fold it over the center. press down on the folded portion to expel carbon dioxide that has formed form fermentation. repeat this on the other side, and turn the dough over so the seams are on the bottom.

weigh the dough. cut it in half, and make sure each piece weighs the same amount. next, with the seam sides on the bottom, shape each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. stretch the top surface tight and smooth over the top of the dough. you are essentially stretching the gluten on the outside of the dough into a smooth layer or “skin,” gathering the extra pieces at the bottom until it looks like a round balloon. this can be done by placing the dough on a clean counter free of flour and pushing up and slightly to the right on the bottom right side, and down and to the left on the top left side. this motion forces the dough into a smooth sphere, pulling the excess pieces toward the bottom as they stick slightly to the counter. next, let the two dough spheres rest for 10 to 15 minutes. this relaxes the gluten and makes for easier shaping later.

shaping is the fingerprint that indicates different types of bread. to create the signature, long and skinny baguette with tapered ends, you first lay out the dough, stretched side down, and flatten it out by punching down on it softly. fold it into thirds like a letter–it should now resemble a rectangle. starting at one end, create a crease in the top-center of the dough with the side of your hand, gather dough from the bottom between the thumb and forefinger on your other hand and pinch up an inward, creating a seam along the top side. be sure to secure the seam as you go! repeat this until the seam runs the length of the dough. now flatten it and pinch again. flatten and pinch one more time.

now, while pushing considerably on the dough to remove any air pockets, roll it from the center out several times until it begins to look like a baguette. taper off the ends with your fingers. repeat with the other piece of dough.

like me, it may take you a few tries to feel comfortable enough to really punch the thing down and roll it out with enough force to remove air pockets in the dough. “you really want to put your weight into it when you roll it out,” Chef Kim said. “you want to get those air bubbles out before you bake.” think of it as being a little cathartic.

now that it is shaped, place it on a baguette pan, and set it in a warm place to proof a final time. if you don’t have a baguette pan, take an old apron or cloth, shape it and gather up the sides so it can cradle the baguettes. place them in a warm, humid place, covered until they roughly double in size again. before baking, slash the top of the loaf on the diagonal down the length of the baguette. this allows for the bread to continue rising after the hard crust has formed. an odd number of slashes is absolutely necessary, Chef Kim says, to trick the eye of the eater out of mentally dissecting the bread into even sections.

bake the baguette at 425 degrees F, until the crust is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped. you will achieve a shinier, more attractive crust if you spray each of the inside walls of the oven with water using a spray bottle. water helps the crust from drying too quickly and becoming too thick.

after removing the bread from the oven, cool it all the way on a rack. be sure to eat it almost right away. lean doughs, because they don’t have much fat to preserve them, don’t last more than a day or so. do not wrap it in plastic (unless you plan to freeze it), as you will suffocate your bread and it will lose its crusty outside! wrap it in a little parchment or just set it on the counter until you are ready to eat. it is lovely for sopping up soup. or you can carnally tear pieces from it and eat, covering yourself in a shower of crusty crumbs.