Sourdough Starter Manager
Log each feed, watch your starter rise in a 3D jar and record when it peaks. After two feeds it learns your own starter’s timing, so you know when it will be ready.
- See the rise against the clock
- Learns your starter’s peak time
- Free, no account needed
Sourdough baguettes are one of the most satisfying bakes there is — a shatteringly crisp crust, an open airy crumb, and that dramatic split down the top. They’re also the most technique-driven bread in the sourdough repertoire. The ingredients are simple; the shaping and the steam are what separate a great baguette from a flat one.
The dough
Baguette dough sits in a deliberately moderate hydration window — wet enough for an open crumb, dry enough to shape into long thin loaves.
Use a strong bread flour for structure. Build gluten with a few sets of stretch-and-folds during bulk rather than heavy kneading, and bulk ferment until the dough is puffy and jiggly with a 30–50% rise. The stronger and better-developed the dough, the easier the shaping.
Shaping in stages
This is the heart of it. You can’t shape a long, even baguette in one move — you build the length gradually so the gluten relaxes between steps.
- 1Divide and pre-shape Divide the dough into equal pieces and gently pre-shape each into a loose cylinder. Don't degas aggressively — you want to keep the gas that becomes the open crumb.
- 2Bench rest Cover and rest 20–30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten so the dough will stretch without fighting back or tearing.
- 3Final shape Fold the cylinder over itself, sealing the seam each time to build a taut skin, then roll from the centre outward to elongate to your couche or oven length.
- 4Taper the ends Press a little harder as your hands reach the ends to form the classic pointed tips.
The couche and final proof
A shaped baguette is soft and wants to spread. The couche holds it.
Related calculator
Levain Calculator
Build your levain precisely — flour blend, hydration level, starter percentage, and timing all in one.
Scoring the grigne
The signature baguette pattern is a series of long, overlapping cuts — the grigne. Hold the lame at a shallow, almost horizontal angle so the blade lifts a flap of dough that bursts open into a raised ear. The cuts should run nearly parallel to the length of the loaf, each one overlapping the last by about a third. Make them decisive and quick; cold dough scores far more cleanly than warm.
Free Sourdough Baking Playbook (printable PDF)
A printable PDF companion for the sourdough calculators and guides.
Steam and the bake
Baguettes are too long for a Dutch oven, so you steam the whole oven and bake hot on a steel or stone.
- 1Preheat with a steel or stone Preheat to 240–250°C (465–480°F) with a baking steel or stone, plus a cast-iron pan or lava rocks on a lower rack to make steam.
- 2Load and steam Flip the baguettes onto a floured flip board, then onto the hot surface. Pour boiling water into the hot pan (or cover with an inverted roasting pan) to flood the oven with steam.
- 3Vent after 10–15 minutes Remove the steam source (or the cover) so the crust can dry and crisp.
- 4Bake to deep gold Total bake is about 20–25 minutes. Pull them a deep golden-brown for maximum crackle; a pale baguette is a soft baguette.
Troubleshooting
Watch for
- Flat, spread loaves → under-developed dough, over-proofed, or no couche support
- No ears → lame angle too steep, weak steam, or over-proofed dough
- Dense crumb → under-fermented, or the gas was knocked out during shaping
- Pale, soft crust → not enough steam, or the oven ran too cool
- Uneven thickness → elongate from the centre outward with even pressure
