french baguette

Water or whey must be heated to room temperature, then add sugar and yeast.

Leave for 15 minutes in a warm place to let the yeast ferment.

In the meantime, sift the flour into a bowl and add the dissolved yeast, so add the oil and mix everything well.

 Cover the dough with a film and a towel and leave to ferment for 1.5 hours in a warm place.

Add salt to the dough and knead well, making a bun out of it, slightly flattened.

Put the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for 8-10 hours. The dough will rise at least twice, so the bowl should be larger.

2 hours before baking, you need to take the dough out of the refrigerator, without pushing it, carefully separate it in a circle from the walls and bottom of the bowl, put it on the table, cover with a film and leave it to warm up to room temperature.

30 minutes before baking, turn on the oven and set it to preheat to 250 ° C, and during this time, proceed to form the baguettes.

Cut the dough with a knife into three parts (it turns out ≈ 300 g of dough for each baguette).

Dust the table lightly with flour.

Take one ball of dough, knead it slightly with your fingers into a small rectangle (≈ 20x10 cm).

Fold the dough along the long side a third to the middle, then fold again on the third that remains.

Slightly press along the seam and, without turning the dough over, fold it again on the side opposite from the seam, slightly crushing the dough with your hands and pinching along the seam.

Pinch the seam, put the dough with the seam down and with gentle movements, slightly rolling, slightly stretching, form the required length of the baguette according to the size of the roaster.

Grease the roasting pan with oil or line it with baking paper and, as it forms, spread the baguettes on it.

Cover the baguettes with plastic wrap and a towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.

5 minutes before placing the baguettes in the oven, place a bowl of hot water on the lower roaster to bring it to a boil and create steam in the oven.

Before placing the baguettes in the oven, use a sharp knife to make a few oblique cuts along each baguette and brush them with cold water.

Place the roaster with baguettes on the middle shelf, close the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 250 ° C. Pour in enough water so that it completely evaporates in 20 minutes.

If all the water has not evaporated in 20 minutes, then carefully remove the bowl of water from the oven, and cover the baguettes with wet paper and bake for another 20 minutes until cooked. After 10 minutes, it is advisable to moisten the paper again with water so that it does not burn.

When finished baking, remove the baguettes from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, covering the top with a towel.