Fish Free Classic French Baguettes

There is something almost magical about pulling a batch of golden, crackling baguettes out of your own oven, and this recipe delivers that bakery-level result from scratch. The process starts with a poolish — a simple overnight pre-ferment made from just yeast, water, and bread flour — that builds the deep, complex flavor you'd expect from a proper French loaf. From there, a series of stretch-and-fold techniques develops the gluten gently, giving you that open, chewy crumb and the signature thin, shattering crust. A blast of steam in the oven during the first ten minutes of baking is the real secret weapon, locking in that glossy exterior before the crust sets into a rich mahogany brown. The entire ingredient list is beautifully simple — yeast, water, bread flour, and sea salt — so there's no need to scan labels or worry about hidden additives sneaking in. Scoring the dough at a confident angle right before it hits the hot stone gives each loaf those dramatic, ear-like ridges that make homemade baguettes look genuinely impressive. Cool them on a wire rack, resist the urge to slice too soon, and you'll be rewarded with a crumb that's airy and tender all the way through.

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