Sourdough Baguettes may be what inspires you to add sourdough baking to your repertoire. Sourdough Baguettes are decidedly NOT easy to perfect. Perfection may be elusive, but no matter. If the crumb isn’t consistent, if the scoring isn’t perfect, if the blisters aren’t pronounced, it will still be wonderful – flavorful and alive with a delightful chew.

I’m a student of sourdough bread baking, not a teacher. I’m still learning; I’m still practicing. If you’re interested in adding sourdough bread to your menus, I can assure you that the process is incredibly flexible. It’s easy to work the feeding, mixing, resting, shaping, and baking into your schedule. There’s so little hands-on time, and stashing the dough into the frig to slow down the process until you can get around to the next step makes it seem almost effortless.

Thus far, my efforts have produced good, actually very good, but not great, results. And that’s good enough for me. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share some of my starter with you, but for expert guidance and instruction on the sourdough process, I suggest that you start with the Clever Carrot or the Pantry Mama. Both websites are great resources that you’ll return to again and again, even after you’ve watched every YouTube video on sourdough bread baking that’s available!

So, I do have a few tips to share – I don’t use a separate recipe for Sourdough Baguettes – I just use the Clever Carrot’s receipt for Sourdough Bread using AP flour, deviating from the process when it’s time to pre-shape. After bulk fermentation, and after forming the dough into a tight ball and letting it rest for 30 minutes, I then cut the ball in half, shape two baguettes, and place them right on a baguette pan lined with oiled parchment for the final rise. I don’t watch the clock. I just leave them on the counter, covered with a kitchen towel, until I’m ready to bake. At the point when they’re puffy and aching for the oven, I pop them in for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake them for another 10 minutes. They’re cool enough to eat in 20 minutes or so.

I can’t give you much guidance on the technique for final shaping of the baguettes, but there are plenty of videos available. I’m still experimenting.

I don’t always put a pan of ice in the bottom of the oven to add steam, which aids in oven spring and formation of those lovely blisters. I should, but I don’t.

Scoring is a challenge for me. Maybe I’m letting the dough over-ferment, but my scores are barely visible in the finished product.

Lastly, the lovely color of my Sourdough Baguettes is the result of an egg wash, brushed on both before sending the baguettes to the oven, and again when I open the oven rotate the pan.

So I’m not an expert, but really, one needn’t be an expert to produce delicious and beautiful Sourdough Baguettes. It’s all in the eye (and the palate!) of the beholder. Enjoy!