Classic Baguette.

Prepare the poolish: whisk poolish ingredients; cover and ferment 12-16 hours at room temperature.

• Use 0.1g of fresh yeast, a rice-grain pinch.
• Whisk until completely smooth and cover loosely.
• Ready when bubbly and domed, 12-16 hours at 18-20°C.

Combine poolish, final-dough flour, water, and yeast; mix until cohesive.

• Add final water to the poolish first, then flour and yeast.
• Mix only until the flour is hydrated. Dough will be rough.
• Rest 10 minutes before kneading if you have time.

Add salt. Knead until the dough is smooth, elastic, and evenly mixed.

• Add salt once the dough forms a rough ball.
• Baguette dough is firm (64% hydration), don't over-knead.
• Finish when smooth and slightly tacky, not sticky.

Bulk ferment 90 minutes with a fold at 30 and 60 minutes.

• Cover the bowl tightly.
• Perform one stretch-and-fold at 30 min, another at 60 min.
• Dough should gain volume and elasticity by 90 minutes.

Divide into 3 × 275g pieces, pre-shape into loose cylinders, rest 20 minutes covered.

• Divide precisely with a scale: uneven baguettes bake unevenly.
• Pre-shape gently into loose 15cm cylinders.
• Cover and rest 20 min so the gluten relaxes.

Shape each into a 35cm baguette: degas, fold, seal, and roll out gently.

• Degas one cylinder, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.
• Seal the seam with the heel of your palm.
• Roll out to 35cm, taper the ends slightly.

Transfer to a floured couche, seam-side up, cover, and final proof 45 minutes.

• Flour the couche well; prop the edges up to hold each baguette's shape.
• Seam-side up during proof keeps the bottom smooth.
• Ready when the dough springs back slowly from a gentle poke.

Transfer the baguettes to a preheated stone and score each with 3-5 diagonal slashes.

• Flip seam-side down onto a peel just before baking.
• Score with a lame at a shallow angle, 3-5 overlapping slashes.
• The scoring direction should be almost parallel to the loaf's length.

Bake at 240°C for 22 min with steam until deep amber and crackling.

• Add steam at the start: a hot pan with boiling water or ice cubes.
• Vent the oven after 10 minutes for a crackling crust.
• Bake to a deep amber; undercoloured baguettes taste bland.

Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Listen for the singing crust.

• Place immediately on a wire rack for airflow underneath.
• Listen for the crackling "singing" sound of a hot crust cooling.
• Best eaten within a few hours of baking.