French Bread

I tried for years to find a good French bread recipe that I was satisfied with.  I wanted it to be at least somewhat healthy while still having a good texture and flavor.  I finally found this one on-line somewhere and have adjusted it to my liking as usual.  This bread is a big hit with the family.  It has a lot of flavor and a very nice crust.

Recipe #1:

Sponge:

95 g cool water

1/16 teaspoon instant yeast

100 g bread flour*

Dough:

All of the sponge

3/4 teaspoon instant yeast (2 g)

1 teaspoon malted barley flour (3 g)

10-12 g salt 

375 g bread flour*

65 g AP flour*

285 g 74-77°F water

*Note: You want about 10% protein content flour for French bread so mix whatever types you need to achieve that.  For example, if the nutritional information displays 12 grams of protein per 100 grams of flour, the protein content is 12%.  Or if the info displays per grams of flour other than 100 then here's the formula example for per 30 grams of flour with 4 grams protein:

4 g protein per 30 g flour

4 × 100 = 400
400 divided by 30 = 13.33%

(I've been using 3/4 French T55 flour from Amazon that's 9.5% and 1/4 Wheat Montana all purpose flour from Walmart that's 13.5%)

1. Mix sponge ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, cover and allow to sit out at room temperature for 14 hours.

2. Place sponge with dough ingredients in the mixer bowl and knead with the dough hook on the lowest speed of mixer for 2-3 minutes, just until everything is mixed (you're not trying to knead the dough, just mix it together--don't over-mix).  

3, Place dough in lightly greased bowl and allow to rise for 3 hours, gently deflating, stretching and folding all four sides, and turning it over every 45 minutes. 

4. Preheat oven to 475°F for 1-1 1/2 hours (along with stones if you are using) putting a cast iron pan on the bottom of the oven to preheat as well.  

5. Being careful not to pop too many bubbles, divide dough into 2-3 equal pieces.  Form each piece by flipping it over, pat it to pop a few bubbles, fold the top down into the dough about 1/2 of the way, pressing down to make sure it stays.  Then turn it around so the folded end is at the bottom facing you and fold the top down over the bottom fold, pressing firmly down.  Placing both hands on dough, rock it back and forth a few times to create some tension and seal the fold.  Place seal side down, cover with cloth and allow them to rest 30 minutes.  

6. Form each piece into a baguette by flipping it over, pat it carefully to slightly flatten, fold the top down into the dough 2/3 of the way, pressing down to make sure it stays.  Then turn it around so the folded end is at the bottom facing you and fold the new top all the way down to the bench (counter), pressing against the bench, a few bubbles will pop as you go. Move your hands along the counter against the dough on both sides of the baguette to create some tension on the skin of the baguette. Then roll the baguette slightly against the counter surface with your hands into 3 even 14 inch baguettes, trying to taper the ends a tiny bit.  

7. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet or seem side up on a floured Couche, cover and let rise 30 minutes at 77°F or closer to 60 minutes if colder than that, depending on your room temperature.  When you press the dough with your finger, it is ready if the fingerprint rises back up half way but stays indented on the top.  If it doesn't rise back up half way then it's over-proofed.  If the fingerprint bounces all the way back up, it is under-proofed.  

8. Just before putting in the oven, flour baguette tops, score them 3-4 times (approximately 2 inches) with a lame, holding the blade at about a 30° angle and angling each score within the middle inch down the long center of the baguette and overlapping each score by about 1/3.  

9. Place in oven along with 1 1/2 cups ice cubes poured into the hot cast iron pan and shut the door.  Bake approximately 20-25 minutes, and don't open the oven for at least 20 minutes so the steam created will do it's wonder on the crust.  After 20 minutes, rotate pan to finish cooking if necessary. Turn off oven and prop door open by an inch or two and allow baguettes to cool 10 minutes.  Remove the baguettes to a cooling rack and allow them to completely cool before you cut them, about 2 hours.

Recipe #2: (quicker)

3/4 teaspoon instant yeast (2g)

1 teaspoon malted barley flour (3g)

10-12 g salt

475 g bread flour

65 g AP flour

380 g 68°F filtered water, you want the dough to stay within 74-77°F

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and make a well for the water.  Pour water in and use a dough scraper to fold it all together.  When almost all of the flour is absorbed, use the dough scraper to cut smallish sections of the dough and place on top of the dough pile.  Continue to cut sections and place on top of the dough pile until all the flour is absorbed and dough is roughly mixed.  Continue with the recipe by placing dough in an oiled bowl and following the instructions above.  The only difference in this recipe versus the longer one above is that the development of the sponge adds more depth of flavor to the bread.  But if you don't have time to make the sponge and allow it to sit, then this one is almost as good and most people will not be able to tell the difference.

Recipe #3:

Sponge:
¾ cup bread flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon rye flour or 9 grain rolled
1 tablespoon Durham flour
1 tablespoon rolled oats
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon wheat bran
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup chlorine-free cold water

Dough:
2-3 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoons malted barley flour
1 tablespoon coarse or kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ cup chlorine-free cold water
1 tablespoon honey
cornmeal for the cookie sheet

Day before: make sponge by putting all ingredients into bowl and mix until smooth. Cover and let rest at room temperature 16 hours.

Add sponge and dough ingredients, except 1 cup bread flour to mixer. Using dough hook attachment, mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes while adding more flour until it pulls away from bowl and is being kneaded by the hook and is soft and slightly sticky.  Follow directions for recipe #1  Put out on lightly floured counter and shape into 1 giant or 2 oblong loaves. Place on sheet pan covered with cornmeal. Cover with cloth and let rise until double in a warm place (2-4 hours). Preheat oven to 450°F for at least 1 hour. Spray water generously in oven and shut the door.  Score top of loaves as desired and put in oven for 5 minutes, spraying oven with water three more times within the 5 minutes. Bake 20 more minutes without opening the oven. Turn 180 degrees for even baking and bake another 5-10 minutes or until the loaves reach an internal temperature of 190°F. Cool on wire rack or, for crispier crust, leave oven door propped open to cool.