Baguette Pan?

First of all, I recently discovered this website and I am very excited about my journey as a baker. I am an absolute beginner in bread making but can appreciate how important it is to have the right tools. In the hopes of making baguettes (amongst other loaves) I would like to know if it’s necessary to use a baguette pan if you already have a baking stone and vice versa?

I have not yet purchased either but am leaning towards a baking stone as I think that this will allow more flexibility to what I bake, and it will allow the oven to create a consistent and evenly distributed temperature. Does the baguette pan help at all or will I get as good a result with just placing the baguette dough straight onto the baking stone?

As you can tell, I am a little confused and so I would appreciate any advice you can share with me.

Another question I have is about diastatic malt powder: I have read from a couple of different sources how diastatic malt powder can enable a consistent rise in your loaves and pastries as well as help to give that golden brown finish. However, very few bread recipes actually mention the use of this particular powder. How important is it and how does one incorporate it into recipes (ie. 1 tsp?)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Kylee

I make baguettes using a baking stone and find it works well. I do not have any kind of baguette pan. You need to introduce some steam into the oven during the first part of the bake to get a good crust. There are a lot of techniques for doing that. I use a small aluminum foil tray on the lowest oven shelf with some water in it and a tiny hole poked in the bottom in the middle so that it drips water down to the floor of the oven about 1 drip per second to make steam for a few minutes.

Baking stones also great for making pizza.

Sorry, I have never used diastatic malt powder.

Thanks so much for your feedback, Paul. I’m new to all of this and expect there to be a lot of trial and error. That’s interesting that you create steam from poking holes in your foil as opposed to just placing a baking sheet filled with water. I am guessing that the drips create more steam as it hits the bottom of the oven. Smart!

These are the kind of foil trays I’m talking about:

image

I just assumed that placing a tray of water on the bottom shelf would suffice but from what you’re saying, poking holes in the bottom of the tray creates more steam. Thanks for the tip!