So, some of you know, I tried really hard today to mess this recipe up. Forgetting my Poolish on the counter until it was all over the counter, forgetting about my dough after the first coil fold. It was a mess, but here’s how it turned out.

I just dropped a new video walking through the three baguette paths. Yeasted. Poolish. Sourdough. Same shape. Three completely different stories. If you've been wondering which one to bake this weekend, watch this first. It'll save you from picking wrong. Here's the short version of what's in it. The baguette isn't really one bread. It's three breads sharing a shape. And the skills stack on top of each other. Yeasted teaches you the shape and the score. Poolish teaches you what time and pre-fermentation do to dough. Sourdough teaches you to read the wild yeast. You don't have to walk it in that order. But the climb's a whole lot easier when you take it one step at a time. Three things stay the same no matter which one you pick: 1. The shape. A 14 to 16-inch roll, tapered at the ends. 2. The score. Three or four overlapping cuts at a 30 to 45-degree angle. 3. The steam. The crust sets in the first 10 minutes. Without steam, your loaf can't expand. What changes is your relationship with time. That's really the choice you're making when you pick a recipe. Not a different bread. A different level of time and dough management. Pick yours for this weekend's bake-along: 🥖 No starter? Start here. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/french-bread-baguette?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share 🥖 Want bakery-level flavor without managing a starter? https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/classic-poolish-baguette?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share 🥖 Active starter ready to go? https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/sourdough-baguettes?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share

This weekend we're going to baguettes. And there's a reason we're getting to them now. Look at what we've done the past two weeks. We learned the couche on ciabatta. We built a poolish for that same ciabatta and watched what an overnight pre-ferment does to flavor and extensibility. Both of those skills carry straight over to baguettes. We're not learning new things this weekend. We're putting the same tools to work in a new shape. That's the method. Each bake builds on the last one. Nothing wasted. Three recipes in the Recipe Pantry. Pick the one that matches where you are. 🥖 New to baguettes? Start here. Classic French Bread Baguette — four ingredients, overnight cold ferment, 72% hydration. Two loaves, cleanest entry point in the pantry. No pre-ferment, no starter. Just dough, time, and shape. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/french-bread-baguette?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share 🥖 Liked the poolish ciabatta? Run it back. Classic Poolish Baguette — same poolish you just built, in a new shape. 12 to 16 hour pre-ferment, 75% hydration, three baguettes. If you nailed the ciabatta, you already know how this dough is going to feel. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/classic-poolish-baguette?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share 🥖 Sourdough bakers, this one's yours. Sourdough Baguettes — overnight levain, 75% hydration, three baguettes at 265g. Same shaping rhythm we practiced on the ciabatta couche. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/sourdough-baguettes?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share

I went hunting for shaping video this week and a perfect one popped up in my own archive. Me, sub rolls, same exact technique as a baguette. Don't let the size throw you. Sub rolls are about the same length as a full sub sandwich, which is right in the baguette range. The shaping move is identical. Pre-shape, rest, fold, roll, taper. That's the move whether you're making a 14-inch baguette or a 12-inch sub roll. Watch the hands. Heads up: this is an older video with music, no narration. Hooked on Classics. The pace is a bit quick because I'm running through a batch. Watch it twice. First time for the flow. Second time to catch the moves. The step-by-step below tracks exactly what my hands are doing. Here's what I'm doing, step by step: Pre-shape. I'm shaping the dough into a rough log already. Pre-shape isn't a round for baguettes. It's an elongated shape because that's where the dough is heading anyway. Less work on the final shape if you start it pointed in the right direction. The rest. Bench rest 15 to 20 minutes. The dough relaxes. Skip this and the dough will fight you on the final roll. Stretch the ends. Take the dough by the two ends and stretch it gently. Just a little. You're waking up the length without tearing the gluten. First fold. Fold the two ends in toward the center, about an inch or two each. You're building structure. Top to center. Fold the top edge down into the middle. Flip and repeat. Turn the whole thing around and fold the new top edge down into the middle again. You're stacking layers of tension. Seal it. Take the top edge one more time, fold it all the way over, and press the seam closed with the heel of your hand. That seam is what holds the shape during proof. Roll and taper. Hands flat. Start in the middle, roll outward, narrow the ends as you go. The roll elongates the loaf. The taper points it. Where it goes next. In the video I'm placing my rolls in silicone molds because that's what I'm baking in. For your bake Saturday, you're going onto a couche, seam-side up, with the linen pleats supporting the sides. Same shape. Different proofing surface.

Short answer: no. A couche is a linen proofing cloth that supports dough as it rises and wicks moisture from the surface. It's great for baguettes. For ciabatta, which is already so wet and open, you just need a floured surface that won't stick and won't deflate your loaf on the transfer. The image below covers your options. One note on the Chux pad: flip it absorbent side down so the smooth plastic-backed side faces up. That's the side that holds flour cleanly. You can fold it into pleats between your loaves just like a real couche, then shake it out and save it for next time. Flour generously, keep it flat, and don't stress the gear. The bread will be excellent either way. See you Saturday. The recipe: Classic French Bread Baguette (yeasted, beginner-friendly): https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/french-bread-baguette Classic Poolish Baguette (intermediate): https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/classic-poolish-baguette Sourdough Baguettes (advanced): https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/sourdough-baguettes