Best Baguettes

These baguettes are delicious. They're light and chewy, and the crust is crunchy but not tough. They're great for sandwiches or just plain with a bit of butter. I made six but they are a little small, so I think I will go for four next time I make them - these ended up being about 10-12 inches long and 2-3 inches wide.

Pain a l’Ancienne

Yields 4-6 baguettes

6 cups (27 ounces) unbleached bread flour
2¼ teaspoons salt
1¾ teaspoons instant yeast
2¼ cups plus 2 tablespoon to 3 cups ice-cold water

1. Combine the flour, salt, yeast and the lesser amount of water in a large bowl and mix until it forms a ball. The dough should be sticky and soft but it should release from the sides of the bowl. If not, sprinkle in a small amount of flour until this occurs (or add more water if the dough seems too stiff). Lightly oil the bowl and roll the dough around until it is coated with oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel.

2. Immediately place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill overnight, to retard fermentation.

3. The next day, check the dough to see if it has risen in the refrigerator. It will probably be partially risen but not doubled in size. Leave the bowl of dough out at room temperature for about 2 to 3 hours (or longer if necessary) to allow the dough to wake up, lose its chill, and continue fermenting.

4. When the dough has doubled from its original prerefrigerated size, sprinkle the counter with flour. Gently transfer the dough to the floured counter, degassing as little as possible. If the dough is very wet, sprinkle more flour over the top as well as under it. Roll the dough gently in the sprinkled flour to coat it thoroughly, simultaneously stretching it into a long oblong. If it is too sticky to handle, continue sprinkling flour over it. Dip a metal pastry scraper into flour to keep it from sticking to the dough, and cut the dough into 4-6 strips with the pastry scraper by pressing it down through the dough until it severs it, then dipping it again in the flour and repeating this action until you have cut down the full length of the dough. (Do not use this blade as a saw; use it as a pincer, pinching the dough cleanly with each cut.) Let the dough relax for 5 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, or 550 degrees if your oven goes this high. Place a steam pan on the bottom rack.

6. Place the baguettes on a floured sheet pan (or two) and score the dough with 3 diagonal cuts. Because the dough is sticky, you may have to dip the razor blade, serrated knife or scissors in water between each cut. You may also omit the cuts if the dough isn’t cooperating.

7. Put the pan in the oven on the middle rack. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan and close the door, then reduce the oven setting to 475 degrees and continue baking.

8. The bread should begin to turn golden brown within 8 or 9 minutes. If the loaves are baking unevenly at this point, rotate them 180 degrees. Continue baking 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the bread is a rich golden brown. (I baked mine for 9 minutes per side.)

9. Transfer the hot breads to a cooling rack. While these are cooling, you can bake the remaining loaves, remembering to turn the oven up to 500 degrees or higher before baking the second round.