BHA & BHT Free Crusty French Baguette

Few things in the kitchen feel as satisfying as pulling a genuinely crusty, golden baguette from your own oven. Store-bought bread is one of the sneakiest sources of preservatives like BHA and BHT, which show up in commercial loaves to extend shelf life — so baking your own is one of the cleanest swaps you can make. This recipe uses just four ingredients: bread flour, sea salt, instant yeast, and water, so you know exactly what's going into every bite. The magic here is a long, cold ferment in the refrigerator that builds deep, complex flavor without any additives doing the heavy lifting. A series of simple stretch-and-fold techniques develops the gluten structure, giving you that open, chewy crumb and the signature crackly crust that shatters when you slice it. The steam-baking method — pouring hot water into a lower pan in the oven — is the trick that replicates a professional bread oven right at home. Let them cool on a wire rack before cutting, and you'll be rewarded with a baguette that's genuinely better than anything wrapped in plastic at the grocery store.

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