Synonymous with the French, and French Cuisine¹, the baguette is a long thin loaf, of
French bread, made from a so-called lean dough.
The dough, but not the shape of the baguette is enshrined in French law.
Baguettes can be as much as a metre in length, and typically two inches, or slightly more in diameter, though
for the home-baker, the length is limited by the size of domestic
ovens, and so 40CM or thereabouts is usually the limit.

The bread has a crisp, crusty
exterior and a soft chewy inside, most typically being made of pure white bread flour. Home
made, or artisan bakery baguettes, should have an uneven inner texture, with variation in
size and distribution of air pockets. Supermarket bought, or mass produced loafs
tend to have a more even crumb structure, which can affect the texture, taste and mouth feel. Some supermarket, or mass produced baguettes, often with alternative names, such as 'French stick', contain oil to extend shelf life, and hence are not baguettes in the strict sense. A ficelle is basically a very thin version of a baguette, made using the same ingredients and techniques.

The lean dough, is as simple as a bread dough can be, consisting only of

• 
  water
  
• 
  flour
  
• 
  yeast
  
• 
  salt
  

Sugar is commonly also used, in activating the yeast, though strictly speaking this is an unnecessary step, but it is a useful step both to activate the yeast, and, ensure the yeast is alive and working as it should be ².

Baguettes are, at once, one of the most simplest of breads, and one of the most complex to make, yet can provide the most satisfaction throughout the entire path to their final creation, and ultimate devouring.

Making bread, and baguettes in particular is not a simple mechanical task of following instructions, it is a Zen -like experience within which the mind must become focused and as one with the dough, the ingredients, and ultimately the final baked loaf.

The entire bread making process is able to focus the mind and provide ample room for contemplating and meditating on both the bread and the wider world. For although making bread can often take quite a long time, most of this time is spent waiting, whilst dough rises, and, in particular, during these special moments of time the Zen-baker can open their mind and contemplatively examine the world, and the essence and true nature of bread.

Despite the simplicity of the ingredients in a baguette, making them represents a serious challenge to home bakers and professional bakers alike, and many have spent quite some considerable time perfecting their baguette making skills. The path to the desired end, of baguette perfection, may be a long, and at times frustrating process, and it must be with
inner focus and determination that the home baker embarks on this quest to transform"> the ingredients into the final finished Zen baguette. Both the end
of the path, in the final zen baguette, and the journey itself are honourable and rewarding.

In contrast to the simplicity of the ingredients there are many, varied methods for making baguettes, which are often quite complex themselves in order to reach the desired culmination of the path to baguette utopia.

It is thought that baguettes, as we understand them today, did not really exist in France, until the advent of the so-called deck oven, an oven into which steam can be 'injected'. Steam is one of the vital ingredients required to make authentic baguettes, as it is crucial in formation of the correct thickness and crustiness of the loafs outer surfaces. The home baker can attempt to emulate the conditions within a commercial oven by several means, and the recipes below all involve using steam in the process.

Before getting to the recipes themselves, we shall first look at the individual ingredients, and other aspects of the process in more detail

Flour

Traditional Zen baguettes should be made with the French T55 flour (type 55), which unlike normal strong bread flour, has a lower protein content, and a slightly rougher texture to it, due to a slower milling process. This also has the affect of causing less damage to the starch in the flour. Strong bread flour can be used, but the results will be somewhat different, though often this type of flour can make an easier a dough to work with.

Water (Hydration)

Most breads have a very similar list of ingredients, and so differences in methodology accounts for
a lot of the variation between different types of bread. However, one of the most key differences between different types of bread is the level of hydration, I.E., the percentage
of water used in the recipe. Perhaps it is not surprising the large difference made to the dough and hence the finished bread, by the quantity of water , as it is the second largest ingredient in the dough, after flour. For baguettes hydration is typically between 66% and 76%. to
understand how hydration percentages work it is easiest to express information on the quantities using the so-called 'Bakers percentage' method of measuring ingredients by their relative proportions. Bakers percentages are discussed below.

Dough for baguettes is probably at a higher level of hydration than most home bakers have
used in other bread recipes. This of course produces a wet, and sticky dough. However it is
important to not add too much flour to this whilst working with the dough, as this will
reduce the hydration level of the bread and of course affect the destination of your
baguette journey. 66% is often regarded as the typical hydration for baguettes, and it is certainly the best point to start. However, the Zen-baker may wish to experiment, over the course of their journey, and raise this, in stages, up to 75% or more, and discover the changes in their baguettes this instils. There is a recipe (not included here), for baguettes, with up to an 80% hydration, a similar hydration to that used for making Italian bread such as ciabatta. Ultimately the Zen-baker will discover which level of hydration will work best for them, in their own personal relationship with their baguette. It is important to remember that atmospheric conditions affect hydration, and other stages of the path; very dry air can mean more water is required whilst humid or wet conditions can mean a wetter dough results than would have in drier conditions. Temperature and humidity also affect rising, especially how long it takes, so the Zen-baker learns to recognise when their dough is sufficiently risen, irrelevant of what the clock may say.

Salt

Salt is one of the four essential ingredients for leavened bread (flour, water yeast and salt), and has important functions, affecting not just the flavour of the finished loaf, but also

• 
  reduces dough oxidation, which otherwise degrades carotenoid pigments in the flour which contribute to flavour and crumb colour,
  
• 
  affects texture, making dough less sticky and 'stronger',
  
• 
  affects shelf life of the finished loaf- making it stay fresher longer in dry environments, but making it stale quicker when conditions are humid
  
.

Yeast

Yeast is the micro-organism most responsible in bread making for producing the carbon dioxide which, when trapped in the matrix of gluten strands, is responsible for giving bread its texture. Yeast can also add to the flavour of bread, both by the yeasty flavour itself, and also due to other by-products of the fermentation process. In addition to yeast, lactobacilli and other bacteria, and also sometimes other types of fungi may have a role in both adding to the flavour, and in producing carbon dioxide. Other micro-organisms, other than yeast, have a more important role when looking at so-called sourdoughs; where a natural culture of micro-organisms, rather than an isolated culture of yeast is used. There are three main types of yeast the home baker will commonly encounter;

• 
  Fresh yeast can be used, but may prove problematic, as it can vary in its effectiveness depending on age and other factors, so will often produce variability between batches of bread making.
  
• 
  Active dried yeast unlike instant dried yeast requires activation before use. To activate- yeast is added to water, with a small amount of sugar to 'activate' the yeast, and start the fermentation process. Active dried yeast typically has a shelf life of three months once opened.
  
• 
  Instant dried yeast tends to be more expensive than active dried yeast, and is really designed for use in bread machines ³, as it does not require activation, it can be added into the bread machine with the other dried ingredients.
  

Attitude

Closely linked with time, another key ingredient in baguettes, attitude is probably the most important ingredient of all. One must have an open attitude, do not give in to any frustration on awkward baguette batches, and be able to adapt to the dough, on any given day; Give it more time or space when required, knead more gently or aggressively as and when the dough calls for this, use the slightest, most gentle of touches when shaping, yet provide sufficient force to reach the desired goal. As your dough stretches, the gluten strands elasticity pulling back, drawing the dough inward on itself, the guiding touch of your hand must gentley coax the strands, tease and direct them to allow the Zen baguette to take its typical form. Forcing, aggressively, working not with the dough, but against it, will destroy the gluten strands, degas the dough, and destroy the structure and texture of the dough, lovingly developed during bulk fermentation, whilst working cooperatively with the dough, as one with it, understanding its movement, its own desires, will ultimately produce compromise and the baguette will form. It is attitude which seperates the Zen--baking master from the Zen--baking novice, who's path towards the baguette, and hence their Zen has only just begun.

Bakers percentages.

In bakers percentages, the amount of flour in any given recipe is taken as being 100%, and
all other ingredients are relative to this; so in a recipe using 1000G of flour, a 66%
hydration would involve the use of 666 Grams of water, and similarly, using the typical 2%
salt as found in baguettes, would be 20 grams of salt.
Using this method is very useful for scaling up and down the total amount of dough, and
hence the total amount of end product you wish to create.

Zen Baguette tools

There are several tools and instruments one needs to make Zen baguettes, some of which most cooks will already have.

Although many bread and baguette recipes seem to favour using separate bowls; one to make the poolish in, and then another to mix the dough in, into which the poolish is tipped, this method generates a lot of waste dough, and seems unnecessary. One large, and preferably heavy (it doesn't move about when your mixing in it), bowl, earthenware seems to work best due to its inherent weight, is all you really require. Be careful to ensure, that if you are following recipe two below, that the bowl can fit into your refrigerator.

Dough scrapers seem initially to be very over-priced little pieces of plastic, but are probably the most useful tool one can have; They can be used to scrape out bowls; scrape dough off the work surface, and off of your hands, used to lift and transport portions of dough, and can be invaluable if using the 'fold method' to knead a wet dough (such as in recipe two). They come in several sizes, the larger ones are most useful, but having a couple of different sized ones can be handy too. Plastic and metal versions exist.

Baguette trays, exist in several different forms, the most simplest are just oblong shaped one or so inch deep trays, and aren’t particularly useful over having a selection of ordinary oven/baking trays. Of most use are the perforated baguette pans/trays; these have perforations in the metal from which the trays are constructed. They are shaped correctly for baguettes, typically having two 'grooves' allowing two baguettes to be made in each tray. These are typically 39 CM long (a size which will fit into most domestic ovens), although, of course, far larger versions exist for the professional bakery and their larger deck ovens.

Duck bills. Yes, really. Every Zen baguette maker should have a duck bill. Or, in the French, a Bec de Canard. This is the name given to a sharply curved and hooked knife, which is one version of the French knife for scoring bread, generically termed a Lame. A lame is a blade used to slash the tops of bread, including baguettes, immediately prior to the loaf or baguettes entering the oven. A lame can either be of this curved/hooked shape, or as is more commonly seen (in the UK at least), a straighter Razor blade style knife. Some Zen baguette followers achieve good results however, using a very sharp and finely serrated knife instead.

A microwavable Pyrex style (or similar) bowl is useful for measuring out water, as you can then heat this in the microwave, before tipping this into the mixing bowl, and adding yeast/sugar to it.

A set of measuring spoons is very inexpensive, and useful for ensuring you can accurately measure very small amounts (like 1/4 a teaspoon), of yeast.

Things like wooden spatulas and the usual stuff every kitchen has is useful, cooling racks are handy, stackable ones are available if you get towards the small home industry level of zen-baguetteism.

Autolyse.

Autolyse is a process by which some of the ingredients for your baguette are mixed, and left
to sit for a length of time (usually about half an hour). Typically the ingredients in the
autolyse would include everything except for the salt, and in some cases except for the
yeast as well. The function of the autolyse period is to allow gluten formation to begin, in the absence of salt, which has various chemical affects on the process, and during which the flour effectively is able to become hydrated to the maximum amount possible, facilitating subsequent stages of the path.

Flavour.

Flavour is, of course, of crucial importance to your baguette creation. Flavour develops
with time, as do thoughts and true inner peace of the mind, and there are two main methods by which to achieve this.

• 
  Use a long, over-night primary fermentation (usually at a low temperature),
  
• 
  Use a pre-ferment (either a poolish or a bigga).
  

However, it is also possible to combine these two methods, though this can somewhat turn the
process of making a baguette into a two, or three day long process, for the true Zen-master
this is the preferred method and, of course, is usually able to produce a very tasty final
baguette, though often the road to the final baguette is more important than the destination
of the finished loaf.

The methods below are a culmination of several years following and being as one with the path
to creating a baguette, it adopts those techniques which have, over time proven themselves
able to facilitate the journey, and create the desired end-result. At the end of the recipe,
are alternatives discussed, to alter the process, or different techniques to try. Each path to
the baguette is different, and each person on this path is different, so what may be ideal for
one person's journey to the baguette, may not necessarily work as well for another. Much of
the process can be altered, not necessarily for the good, by very subtle alterations in the
way different stages are performed, and so it is important to document any discoveries during
your journey, so that you may learn from them, and either ensure not to repeat the act, if
it alters the destination deleteriously, or, conversely, ensure the technique, is used every
time during the journey, if the technique has beneficial effect on the paths destination.

recipe 1

Ingredients

• 
  900 Grams strong white bread flour (100%)
  
• 
  600 Grams water (approx 66%)
  
• 
  18 Grams salt (2%)
  
• 
  3 and a quarter teaspoons yeast
  
• 
  A little sugar to activate the yeast.
  

Method

Day one, make the poolish

measure out 300 Grams of water, tepid, but not hot, and add to this a little sugar (about a
teaspoon), and dissolve. Add 1/4 teaspoon of active dried yeast, and whilst it activates a
little, measure out 300 Grams of the white flour (33%).
Mix the flour into the yeast/water mix, creating liquid batter, don't worry about lumps,
or making it smooth, just ensure all the flour is incorporated into the batter.

To prevent the devil entering your house and upsetting the bread-making process, you should
only stir this in a clockwise direction ⁴.

Cover with a tea towel and leave overnight on the worktop.

Day two getting intimate with the dough

the next day the poolish from the night before should be very much alive, bubbling and
increased in size, and with a slightly peculiar smell. You should name your poolish ⁵ .

Measure out the remainder of the flour (600 Grams).

in a small bowl get the remainder of the water (300 Grams), and adding and dissolving a little
sugar as before, add in approximately 3 teaspoons active dried yeast, leave five minutes to
activate.

Autolyse

tip the activated yeast/water into the poolish from day one,
stir it in, and then start adding the remainder of the flour, mixing it in well.

once all the flour is mixed in to the poolish/yeast, it should have a vaguely shaggy texture,
this is not yet time to knead, instead, cover and leave the dough for half an hour to
autolyse; This step allows the flour to soak up all the water, and also starts a chemical
reaction which aids in later stages with gluten formation.

kneading

It is then time to add the salt to the dough, the easiest way to do this is tip the dough out on to the worktop, and sprinkle the salt on top, and then fold the dough over it, and
just start kneading, which will ensure the salt is distributed throughout the dough evenly.
Kneading is an awkward process to describe, but really all your trying to do is ensure
everything is evenly mixed together, and get the process of gluten formation underway. The
gluten is essential to the structure of the bread, as it helps trap the gas which will form
during fermentation/rising. Wetter doughs (with higher hydration), can be problamatic to knead, some try doing it by hand, but wet their hands, whilst another method involves 'folding' the dough, over, and repeating this many many times; using a large spatular or dough scraper to fold the dough.

Do not under or over knead the dough. The dough will undergo a change in texture, in your
hands, five to ten minutes into the kneeding this should be apparent, and this will probably
be sufficient kneading, though being able to judge this well will only come with time.

Place the dough into a large bowl, and leave to rise for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes tip the dough out onto the worktop, and gently fold it over,- take the back
edge, and bring it three quarters towards the front edge, then fold the front edge towards
the back and over the edge of the crease, and then repeat this for the left and right hand
sides, try to even out the creases where it is folded, and then return to the bowl, seem
side down (although baguettes should contain no oil/fat, it is often useful to lightly oil the bowl, using an oil spray for this is handy to not use too much oil and thereby not incorporate too much oil into the dough).

After a further 45 minutes repeat this fold, removing approx half the increased bulk in the
dough on each occasion.

after a further 45 minutes, it is time to start constructing the baguettes. By now the dough should be approximately twice or more its original size after it started on the three bulk fermentations/rises. Rising times are dependant both on humidity and temperature so will vary depending on the weather on any given day.

Creating the baguette

divide the dough into four equal portions, and roughly shape into sausage shapes, dust
lightly with flour, and leave to rise for approx 20 minutes.

after the dough has rested and risen slightly, start shaping each into a baguette of the
desired length, trying not to loose too much of the gas collected thus far inside the dough. Tease the shape out, work with the dough, don't fight against it as the gluten attempts to contract the baguettes as they form.

place the baguettes onto perforated baguette pans⁶, and let rise, until they have reached
the correct size, particularly in terms of the thickness of the baguettes; they won't
necessarily extend much more in length during this final rise.

Before the baguettes have finished rising put the oven on, as high as it will go, and ensure the oven shelves are suitably spaced, to allow the trays to fit in easily. Taking an old deep oven/roasting tray, that you no longer want to use for cooking in (this will bugger it up), pour in a good amount of boiling water, and place this in the bottom of the oven, to generate steam ⁷.

Scoring the baguettes

Scoring the baguettes; slicing overlapping long lines down the top side of the baguette, is not only an ascetical touch, to give the finished baguette the typical well-known appearance, but serves a few other extra functions.

• It provides room for the controlled expansion of the baguette, as it first enters the oven and undergoes oven spring; a short period of rapid rising, caused by the heat of the oven creating rapid yeast fermentation, which ends when the heat distroys the yeast.
  
• 
  Gives the baguette a lighter inner crumb texture, due to the oven spring affect.
  
• 
  scoring also facilitates a slowing down of the formation of the crust, on the top surface, which allows for the starch on the surface of the baguette to gelatinise, and thereby produce a nice shiny crust.
  

Spray the baguettes with a lot of water, until they are really quite wet, this helps with scoring, and also with oven spring and proper crust formation. The condition of the dough, the amount of steam used during baking, and also the scoring technique, affect the quality of scoring and oven spring, and therefore of crust and 'ear' formation. If gluten formation is too strong within the baguette dough, then the gluten at the site of scoring will not open well during oven spring. Conversely, if dough is not sufficiently well developed, the blade used to score will 'snag' on the dough, and this may deflate the dough. Too much or too little steam may also result in cuts which do not fully open during oven spring.

Taking a very sharp knife, or lame (wet the tip of the knife), score three intersecting lines down
the long length of the baguettes. to do this, the lame (or knife), should be held at
approximately a 45 degree angle to the surface of the baguettes, and aim to cut into them
to approximately a quarter of an inch depth (0.6 CM). this technique is tricky to get
at first, but after about the 1542nd baguette you've scored, you'll probably just about have
it as an automatic thing you can just do. One key way to score well is to score the baguettes very quickly, no hesitation at all, line the blade up and cut quickly in a single motion; don't stop mid-cut if it goes a bit off course, as that would be less good than a half or slowly done score.
score the baguettes immediately prior to putting them into the oven.

Tips for scoring

• 
  Use a very sharp finely serrated knife, or sharp razor blade (or lame).
  
• 
  Wet the blade with water, between each cut.
  
• 
  Slice approx 1/4 inch (0.6 CM), deep, at an angle of between approximately 30 and 45 degrees to the surface of the baguette
  
• 
  Make fast, confident cuts, but simultainiously be gentle and work with the dough.
  
• 
  Do not work against the dough and/or press down, let the knife do the work, and partly let the dough determine the blades course through the dough
  
• 
  Practise, practise and practise again, then practise some more
  

place the baguettes into the oven on the top shelf, trying not to burn yourself with the hot
steam the oven is now full of.

after fifteen minutes check the baguettes are cooking evenly, and turn round the trays if
necessary, and spray the baguettes again with water. After a further five minutes, remove
the pan from the bottom of the oven, and let the baguettes continue to cook until they are
done- the time in total to cook them can vary considerably, but usually its somewhere from
20 to 25 minutes total cooking time.

Let the baguettes cool on a rack, and then eat whilst they're fresh, which is usually only
for about two hours after baking ⁸.

Recipe 2 - full zen baguettes

Ingredients

• 
  600 Grams flour.
  
• 
  459 Grams water (75% hydration).
  
• 
  1/4 Teaspoon yeast
  
• 
  12 Grams salt (2%, try 1.5% if your reducing your salt intake).
  

As described above, for recipe one, make a poolish with 200 Grams of the flour, and an equal amount (200 Grams) of the water, and 1/8 teaspoon of yeast, producing, a 100% hydration poolish pre-ferment, leave this at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

Day two

measure out the remaining 250 Grams of water, (get this to about 30 or 35 degrees, by heating in the microwave), add a small amount (1/2 teaspoon) sugar to this, dissolve, then add in the 1/8 teaspoon yeast, mixing it in, and wait for the yeast to activate (about 5 minutes). Add this yeast/water mix to the poolish from day one.

Weigh out the remaining 400 Grams flour, and add this to the poolish/yeast/water mix, in batches stirring it in well. Mix this to an even shaggy consistency, ensuring all the flour is incorporated and leave on the worktop to autolyse for approximately half an hour.

After the autolyse, add in the salt, and fold/mix the dough to evenly distribute the salt.

Nead the resulting dough for five to ten minutes, until the texture changes and becomes a bit more responsive and more easily 'worked'. However, this is a wet dough, and it won't nead to a really even or smooth dough texture, subsequent stages develop the gluten more and get it to the more typical dough texture/feel. For kneading wet doughs, such as this, it is important to not use flour, as this affects the overall hydration of the dough and dhence the baguettes. Instead, use a dough scraper, to 'fold' the dough over, and use hands to knead. As the dough is very sticky, flour actually doesn't work well for dusting your hands, the best method is to wet your hands, and the dough scraper, and work the dough like this, re-wetting your hands and the dough scraper frequently during kneading/folding.

Place this dough back into a bowl, and ferment for one hour, to one and a half hours, folding the dough every twenty to 30 minutes; to fold, tip the dough out of the bowl, an as for the recipe above, fold the back third towards the front 3/4 of the way, then the front over the back 3/4 of the way, and repeat this for the left and right sides, vaguely evening up any seems; return each time to the bowl, seem side down. Again, do not use any flour during the folds, instead use the wet hands and dough scraper.

after the bulk fermentation and folds, place the bowl into the refrigerator, for 23 hours ⁹.

Day three

Take the bowl out of the refrigerator, it may have doubled in size, although sometimes there doesn't seem to have been a lot of rising; this probably depends on how warm the dough was on entering the refrigerator. Divide the dough into equal sized portions, and pre-shape into short rods, leave out at room temperature for one hour (mainly to bring the dough up to room temperature, and also to allow further rising).

shape the pre-shaped baguettes, easing the dough out carefully, to the correct length and even thickness, place these onto the baguette trays, and leave to prove for 45 minutes at room temperature.

Score the baguettes (as described above), and place into a pre-heated, and steamed oven (250 Degrees celsius or as hot as your oven can handle), and cook with the steam, for about 15 minutes, then remove the steam, and continue baking for maybe ten minutes or so, until they are cooked. Let baguettes rest for five minutes, in the turned off oven (put the door slightly ajar), then put the cooked baguettes on cooling racks, and attempt to wait until they are cool before slicing and eating..

If your zen baguette journey has been successful you may have the will power to wait for the baguettes to cool; try to meditate whilst they cool, you really shouldn't eat them whilst still warm, no, really you should not...

additional comments and thoughts on zen and the art of baguette

Each individuals baguette is, individual. As each path to each persons recipe is an individual journey. Do not fear to experiment, adapt and invent your own techniques, methods and recipes, to create a baguette that is a true expression of your inner self. You can experiment using honey in the dough; adding it in to the poolish makes a darker bread, and imparts a subtle flavour; adding it with the remainder of the ingredients, can impart a sweetness depending on how much is used, and honey can extend the shelf life slightly of the baguette. Other flours can be used, instead of the standard 100% white baguette; try 1/3 wholemeal flour in the recipe, or 1/3 rye, or use multigrain flours, add herbs, seeds, and experiment and enjoy the journey this will take you on in pursuit of your own Zen baguette and your own Zen Baguette journey.