How to make sourdough baguettes

Learn how to make these crusty, mouth-watering sourdough baguettes.

Their complex flavour and beautiful taste come from the long fermentation and retardation time (time in the fridge), 100% hydration of the sourdough and a little bit of stoneground and fava bean flour.

These baguettes are quite small so that they fit into the domestic oven but they are delicious. Best eaten fresh from the oven. One of the flours in the recipe is fava bean flour but we ended up using fava and garbanzo flour as this was the only one available in our local health-food store.

Unit size	200g (7.055oz)
Number of loaves	6
Total flour	685g (24.127oz)

The following steps outline how to make your pizza:

Step 1 – Make the sourdough

Follow the instructions on how to make a sourdough.

Sourdough – Ingredients

Sourdough stage in Bread Boss

Ingredients	Measurements
Starter	26g (0.905oz)
High Protein Flour	166g (5.851oz)
Fava Bean Flour	2g (0.060oz)
Stoneground Flour	3g (0.121oz)
Diastatic Malt	pinch
Water	171g (6.032oz)
	*342g (12.064oz)

*Starter weight not included in total

Fermentation Time	6 hours
Required Dough Temperature	20°C (68°F)

The sourdough created in this stage will be 26g (0.905oz) more than is required in the bread dough. This amount will be removed from the sourdough stage before adding it to the bread dough and will be your starter for the next time you bake.

Step 2 – Make the Final Dough

Final dough stage in Bread Boss

Ingredients	Measurements
Sourdough	343g (12.064oz)
High Protein Flour	485g (17.070oz)
Fava Bean Flour	12g (0.422oz)
Stoneground Flour	17g (0.603oz)
Diastatic Malt	2g (0.054oz)
Sea salt	14g (0.507oz)
Water	329g (11.581oz)
	1200g (42.307oz)

Dough to Oven Time	29 hours 30 mins
Bulk Fermentation Time	4 hours
Intermediate Proof Time	30 mins
Retardation Time	24 hours
Final Proof Time	1 hour
Baking Temperature and Time	Preheat oven to 250°C (482°F) and bake for 20-25 mins turning around after 10 mins.

The video gives you a good idea of how to mix the final dough, mould and add to the tray to store in the fridge over night and then bake off.

Weigh and add flours to mixing bowl.
Weigh salt and leave to one side.
Remove starter weight from sourdough and store in fridge as your next starter.
Add sourdough to bowl.
Weigh water and add to the bowl.
Mix ingredients together and add more water if necessary to achieve a soft dough. Tip onto bench and knead gently for a 5 minutes.
Leave covered dough to rest for 15 mins.
Knead for 10 mins, cover and leave to rest for 15 mins.
Add salt and knead until salt is dissolved.
Place dough back in to the oiled container and cover for the bulk fermentation time of 4 hours.
Dust bench with a generous amount of flour and scale dough into 200g (7.054oz) pieces shaped as a baton.
Leave to ferment for the intermediate proof time of 30 mins.
Shape and roll out into baguette shapes and place on a tea towel on a wire tray. Then cover with a tea towel and place in fridge overnight.
Remove from fridge and leave to ferment for the final proof time of 1 hour.
Preheat oven to the 250°C (482°F)
Once they are ready for the oven, place the dough on the peel, slash them and load them onto the oven stone and bake for 20-25 mins turning half way through.

If you have our app then the alarms are worked out for you, here is an example of the schedule.

Time	Action
Saturday 8am	Make sourdough
Saturday 2pm	Make final dough
Saturday 3.30 pm	First turn over of dough
Saturday 4.30 pm	Turn over dough
Saturday 5.30 pm	Turn over dough
Saturday 6.30 pm	Scale and shape as a baton for intermediate proof
Saturday 7pm	Mould and roll as a baguette. Place on a wire rack on an oven tray covered with a tea towel. Leave in the fridge over night.
Sunday 8am	Remove loaves 1 to 3 from fridge.
Sunday 8.20am	Prepare oven to 250°C (482°F)
Sunday 8.50am	Boil water for steam
Sunday 9am	Bake loaves 1 to 3 for 20-25 mins turning around half way through.
Sunday 10.15am	Remove loaves 4 to 6 from fridge.
Sunday 11.15am	Bake loaves 4 to 6 for 20-25 mins turning around half way through.