Dan Leader's 4-Hour Baguette Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Yes, great baguette, just don't overcook it like it did. Twenty minutes in the oven max.

This has come out beautifully. I do have one question: using baking steels and the required cast iron pan and the lengthy preheat burned the outside of my bread in 20 minutes. Not beyond edible, but darker than need be. Could I get away with 15-17 minutes, or would another adjustment be appropriate?

Nice, easy-to-follow recipe. Followed the advice to use hot/boiling water instead of ice cubes in my cast iron pan. Also, I "spritzed" the loaves periodically while they baked. Mine were done in 20 minutes. Turned out well - I'll bake these again

My bread looked pretty good, but it tasted bland. I think there is no substitute for time to "ripen" the dough.

Shaun January 24, 2021

Made it today. Great color and flavor. Can really taste the salt but not complaining. Only issue I had was that I could not score it. I think the dough was too soft and would not allow the lame to cut it. Will make it again and again until perfected.

Made this over the weekend. Results were fabulous, but took two days to fully rise (including overnight in the fridge). I used bread flour instead of all-purpose. Could this have been the problem?

This is a great recipe, especially for those who are new to baking bread. A baguette pan is ideal: it eliminates the need for the parchment-and-dish-towels part of the recipe. These baguettes are best the day they are baked; they tend to soften after a few hours.

Dropping ice cubes into a cast iron pan may warp it, and possibly crack it. I would recommend using room temp or even boiling water instead.

I live in fairly high altitude, so adjusted the temp to 450, and baked for 20 minutes. I followed the instructions with measurements rather than by weigh. The results were fabulous. Any leftover bread will be used in a baked French toast dish. Yum.

I just made this today. Pulled it out of the oven about 10 minutes ago. This was the first time I've made baguettes, and the first time in a long time that I've worked with yeast dough. Also, I recently moved from about 350 feet above sea level to a place that's about 7,000 feet. Soooooo. . .
First off, the loaves came out nicely. Great flavor and texture. I was nervous because this was my first attempt at baking anything at this altitude, let alone bread.
I made some adjustments to the liquid, the flour, and the yeast, based on what I'd read about high altitude baking. I think next time I might just adjust the yeast. Also, I think I set the oven temp too high, again for the altitude.
But even with my mistakes, this bread came out respectably well, and now I can't wait to make it again.
Really excellent recipe, and, quite possibly, fool-proof. This is a keeper.

I have made this twice. The first time I used the cup/spoon measurements. Bread looked good, but not enough flavour. Second time, I used gram measurements. Interestingly, 1 tsp of yeast is 2.83 grams (I used 3 grams) and 1/8 oz converts to 3.5 grams. Also 1.5 cups of water is 236.59 grams while 12 oz converts to 354.88 (I used 355 grams). Quite a difference. Both of the flour measurements converted to approximately 406 grams of flour. 3/8 oz of Kosher salt converts to 10.6 grams, while 3 tsp equals 18 grams (I used 18 grams). Again, quite a difference.
While the dough was quite wet, it was not hard to work with and I didn't concern myself with how much flour I added as I kneaded. Just did what worked.
I did have a little trouble getting the loaves into the oven the first time. I made the parchment paper dividers too high, so when stretched out they only just fit on the upturned pan in the oven. The second time around made them smaller so it worked just fine. The second batch looked and smelled delicious and had a far superior flavour.

Does anyone have feedback on how to bake these with a gas oven?

Not only is this an essential baguette recipe, it gave me techniques that I consistently use every time I make a leavened product: activating the yeast, mixing wet and dry ingredients then just letting that 'shaggy' result set for 10-15 minutes, .... Can be used for sandwiches, dipping, slathered in butter, French toast, or eaten in totality straight from the oven.

This was quick and easy to make and my family loved it! So much better and fresher than store bought French bread. I only baked the baguettes for 20 minutes. Will be making this over and over again.

I’ve made this bread many times and always loved the results
Regarding the discussion about cups vs weight there’s a lot more to it. Also depends on weather/humidity and how old your flour is
The dough should be a little sticky (higher hydration) to create those big holes
I also added 1/4 cup of wheat germ which gives the bread a little nuttier taste as if it had fermented hours longer

6th time I'm making this? Thought I'd finally review. Quality QUALITY recipe for beginners. I have made it for bahn mis, hoagies, dipping bread, mussels dipping bread, and for regular toast. THE CROWD FAVORITE (DONT KNOCK IT) California French Bread! It's 1part mayo, 1 part grated parm (I prefer from the can), and 1 part sliced green onions. Mix and slather on bias crostini sized slices. Broil til bubbly. I like the density of the bread because it holds up a goopy delish topping. I've never had a bad loaf from this recipe but I do prefer making it by weight. So good with salted butter and radishes too. 😍 IT'S GENIUS!
I have added a little bit of water. Like 1/2 cup in the cast iron pan. As I'm putting in the bread. I close the oven really fast so the steam doesn't escape. Just for giggles. I like the crusty result.

This is a great base recipe. Tried it once by measuring cup and ended up with a nice, but perhaps overly dry/dense loaf that was very easy to knead/work at every step. Tried it again by weight, and ended up with a much wetter dough that required a lot of working, scraping, flouring and reflouring, but yielded beautiful results. Perfect crust, air pockets, nicely chewy texture throughout, utterly delicious. Be sure to work it enough to achieve that elasticity, and it can stand to proof a little longer than in the recipe, but obviously just use your eyes and judgment. Perfect for butter and soft cheeses, but also makes for fantastic hotdog/hot sub sandwich bread.

So, this is not a review as I haven't baked it yet, but ya'll, this is bread, not a cake. The amount of flour used in bread is an "or so" amount, not an exact amount. The amount you use can depend on the weather, altitude, and your attitude toward it. You are creating--it is an art and can be tweaked. Looking forward to baking it tomorrow.

I checked America's Test Kitchen and I cup of flour is noted as 5 ounces.
Should the recipe be for 16.25 ounces of flour. This would certainly stop problems for people that weigh their flour like it did. My dough was too wet to work with.

Working from home during the COVID-19 self iso, made this in between serving clients on line and on phone. First time making baguettes. OMG!!!! mind blown. This is awesome. Hubs can't stop eating it and he says he is swearing off carbs. I usually attempt sourdough so this lower hydration was a lovely change and very easy to deal with - will keep making it - at least till hubs tells me to stop! LOL