Instructions
Mixing and Fermentation:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl by hand so that the salt and yeast are evenly distributed in the flour. Add the water at a lukewarm temperature (about 80 degrees) and mix until a shaggy dough forms, with no remaining dry flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Over a period of 90 minutes, stretch and fold the dough once every 30 minutes, flipping the dough upside down each time. Keep the dough in a warm place protected from drafts. The inside of a microwave or of your (cold) oven both work well.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and as long as 24 hours.
Dividing and Shaping:
Turn the cold dough onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into three equal parts and shape each loosely into rectangles. Cover them with a dish towel and let them rest for 45 minutes. Each dough piece will warm up and relax into a uniform mass.
Working by hand, stretch each dough rectangle slightly and fold over itself into a cylinder about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide, sealing the seams. Roll each cylinder out to form a baguette shape. Focus on rolling the cylinder evenly, working from the center out to the ends with both hands, making it thinner section by section before moving your hands farther apart. The length will come as the cylinder becomes thinner. The desired result is about an inch wide and 15 inches long. Working with a gentle touch will preserve the gases that have inflated the dough, making for a light and airy interior, as well as preserving the flavors and aromas created during fermentation.
Place each loaf onto a lightly floured, lint-free cloth, ideally a baker’s linen couche, with the seam side up. Cover loosely with the cloth and proof at a room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes until the dough has inflated to the point where the skin has become smooth and a light touch of the fingertip leaves a shallow dimple in the dough.
Baking:
About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place a baking stone in the upper half of the oven and a cast-iron pan on the oven floor.
Transfer the baguettes to a piece of parchment paper, seam side down, spaced in parallel with 2 inches between them. Using a sharp knife or one side of a double-edged razor blade, make 3 scores on each baguette. When scoring, use a swift and firm motion to ensure even, clean cuts. The scores should be almost parallel, overlapping by a third and should follow the center line of the loaf, not going all the way to the edges.
Open the preheated oven and slide the baguettes off the parchment paper and onto the baking stone. Immediately pour a cup of water onto the cast-iron pan to create steam. Close the oven door. Act quickly, but take care not to get scalded. You should see steam pouring out of the vents of your oven – this is what you want! Do not attempt to block the oven vents.
Reduce the oven temperature to 475 degrees. After three minutes, open the oven and pour another cup of water into the cast-iron pan to generate a second burst of steam. At this point, you will see that the baguettes have already risen to almost their full height. At six minutes, repeat the process to create a third burst of steam. Bake for 15-20 minutes total, or until the baguettes have a rich, toasty-brown color without white areas remaining. It is normal for the tips and the edges of the cuts of a well-baked baguette to become almost black, so long as the bread does not actually smell burnt.
Place the baguettes on a wire rack to cool. Resist the temptation to eat them right out of the oven. The baking process continues as the bread cools and releases steam, mingling the flavors of the crust and the interior of the loaf. Try to wait at least 30 minutes before eating the bread. A fresh baguette with a healthy slather of good butter or a generous drizzle of olive oil is one of the great simple pleasures in life!
