How One Writer Learned to Make the Perfect Baguette From a Chef Supreme

Nothing epitomizes France for me more than waiting my turn at the corner boulangerie to purchase a morning baguette, then breaking off le quignon (the tip) and savoring the magnificently crunchy crust and soft-and-tender insides as I wander happily down the cobblestone streets. (And I’m in not alone: UNESCO recently granted the iconic baguette world heritage status.) But good luck finding such a baguette in the U.S. Yes, there are bakeries that offer them, but what you’ll mostly encounter are poor substitutes—no doubt because a classic baguette (made with no sugar or oil) goes stale in a matter of hours, and there simply isn’t the demand for them here in the States that there is in France.

(Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Holding Back)

So, you can imagine my delight when I was made privy to the secret of how to prepare “the perfect baguette”—by none other than Martin Ginsburg, renowned tax professor husband to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It was during the dinner that I had the good fortune to prepare for the professor and RBG that he mentioned how he’d spent several years tinkering with the recipe until he’d got it just right. “Would you be willing to share it with me?” I asked, and he replied that he’d never written the recipe down, but that if I wanted to call him sometime, he’d be happy to explain the process to me.

What follows is the transcription of two lengthy phone conversations I had with Martin Ginsburg in the weeks after that momentous dinner party, in which he described in exacting detail how to prepare his “perfect” baguettes. (The fact that he was once a chemistry major becomes apparent in this meticulous recipe, which also embodies the voice of the charming man.) I am by no means an experienced baker but followed his method exactly and ended up with the best baguettes I’ve ever tasted outside of France.

I recommend reading the entire recipe carefully before starting, so that you understand all the steps. From start to finish—i.e., when the baguettes are cool enough to place in the freezer—the entire process takes about six hours, almost four of which is rising time, plus an hour to cool. (The rising times are in boldface.) It’s a good project for when you’re going to be home all day anyway.

(yields 3 smallish baguettes)

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and whisk, then add the yeast and whisk again. (Adding the yeast after mixing the flour and salt prevents too much salt from coming into contact with the yeast, which can affect its potency.)

Measure out 315-316 grams of water and test with an insta-read thermometer. You want it to be at 57° or 58°F. (If you start with 280 grams refrigerated water and add to it room temperature water to increase it to 315 grams, it should be about the right temperature.)

Put the dry ingredients into a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Turn it on (if you have two speeds, use low), and after a few seconds slowly add the water. Process this for 20 seconds. It will be a ragged mess. Leave it alone for 20 minutes. Autolysis will occur, allowing the dough to hydrate and the developing gluten to relax before kneading (processing) is continued. It will look the same, but will process much easier after the wait.

Process the dough for another 25 seconds, maximum. Measure the dough with an insta-read thermometer; it should be between 75° and 80°F. If it is under, process it for another 5 seconds; if too hot, put the whole container in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Knead the dough by hand on the counter for about 2 minutes. It should be a little moist and slack, but not too sticky, and should stick to your hand slightly, but pull away easily. The most common mistake at this stage is for the dough to be too dry, which is caused by over-kneading.

Oil a 2 quart bowl, and throw the dough in and then turn it over once, so the oil is on both sides. Cover tightly with foil, and leave at normal room temperature for 2 hours. After this time, it won’t have doubled in bulk, but it will have risen.

Take the dough out and pat it down a bit (less than a punch, though). Shape it into a rough rectangle and cut it with the bench knife into three pieces. You need to have three equal sized pieces; weigh them on the scale, and cut off pieces of the large ones and add to the smaller ones so that they all weigh the same amount (about 275 grams).

Roll the three pieces of dough into balls with your hand on your work space, and leave them on the counter covered with a dish towel (don’t let them touch each other). Let them rest for 20 minutes.

Working one ball at a time, pat it out into a rectangle about 5” to 6” long, and 4” to 5” wide, with the long edge facing you. Don’t mash the dough too hard; pat it lightly. Take the top third of the long end and fold it down over the middle, so it is covering the top part of the rectangle. Then fold the bottom third over the top part (the dough will be three layers thick now). It will still be 6” long, but now only about 2” wide.

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Pat it down again lightly, so that it flattens out some and increases to 4” in width (the length should still be about 6”). Using your thumbs, make a trough down the middle of the dough along its length. Fold the top along the trough over onto the bottom (i.e., fold it in half, lengthwise). It will now be about 2” wide, but still 6” long. Seal the seam and the ends by tapping your fingers or squeezing with your thumb and forefinger.

Set the partially formed dough aside, covered with a towel to let it rest, and do the same with the other two. (Letting them rest in between steps allows the gluten to relax, making it easier to roll them out to the proper length and for them to hold their shape.)

Go back to the first partially formed dough loaf, and with the palms of your hands roll it out, starting at the middle and moving your hands away from each other towards the edges, to make it longer. Use a light touch. Do this with the other two. Finish shaping the dough, rolling the baguettes out until they are 13” to 14” long.

Fold the baker’s couche so that it has three separate troughs, like waves. Lightly flour the couche and gently drop the three shaped baguettes into the troughs. Fold the rest of the couche over the baguettes, or cover them with a dish towel. Leave them to rise for one hour.

Place the baker’s stone on the bottom rack of the oven if it is gas (i.e., there is no electrical element on the bottom of the oven); if you have an electric oven with the element on the bottom, put an empty rack as near the bottom of the oven as you can, and put the stone on the rack just above it, as close as it can go to the rack below it. Place the stone a little offset on the rack, so there is room on one side of it (to drop the ice cubes through the rack into the skillet below—see later step). Turn the oven on to 475° F, so it preheats for an hour while the baguettes are doing their last rise.

Five or ten minutes before the last rising is finished, heat the cast iron skillet on the stove so that it is very hot. Then put it on the floor of the oven if you can, otherwise on the bottom rack, on the edge of the rack so that it is enough offset from the stone above so you can drop ice cubes from above into it.

After this last rise, the baguettes will be fatter, but not huge. If you touch them lightly with a finger a slight impression will remain. Sprinkle several pinches of corn meal onto the peel and spread it around evenly. Carefully place the risen baguettes on the peel, so they are perpendicular to the handle. Don’t let them touch each other.

Take a razor blade or sheet rock cutter and cut three or four 3” to 4” inch long diagonal slits ¼” to ½” deep, across the baguettes. Then (and this is key), cut another slit the same depth down the full length of the center of the baguette. The slits are very important because they allow moisture/steam to escape from the baguette as it bakes, making for a crunchy crust.

Open the oven door and jerk the peel back so that the baguettes slide onto the stone. Straighten them if necessary. Close the door and turn the oven down to 450°. Open the door again and drop 3 ice cubes into the skillet and immediately close the door. (This step is important, too, as it causes a flash of steam, which also helps make the crust crunchy.) Start the oven timer for 22 minutes. After about 2 minutes, open the oven again and spray the side walls of the oven (not the stone) with a spritz of water.

The baguettes may get very brown after about 15 to 17 minutes. If the ends start getting too dark, you can turn the oven down to 425° at this point. Bake the full 22 minutes unless they are getting much too brown, but never bake less than 21 minutes. (Oven temperatures vary, of course, so it may take a little longer. They should be a nice toasty brown.) You can test the inside of the loaf with an insta-read thermometer: 205° is perfect (200° to 208° will do).

Take them out to let cool on a rack for an hour. They will feel quite hard when they first come out, but after they cool a bit they will feel soft inside and hard outside, just like a real French baguette is supposed to be.

Baked goods such as baguettes freeze quite well; so, if you want to bake them ahead of time, that’s fine, Let them completely cool, then wrap tightly first in foil, then in a plastic bag or wrap, and freeze. To unfreeze, preheat the oven to 350°, remove the baguette from the freezer and take it out of all its wrappings. Let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes, then bake it (uncovered) on the middle rack for 6 minutes.

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