I’ve been into making baguettes a little bit recently. I’ve figured out a formula using the ap flour I have that works pretty well. I used Richard Bertinet’s method of shaping as my guide as I was watching a video online and have one of his books from the library at the moment, and also took the idea of incorporating a tiny bit of rye with the ap flour for a bit of rustic character. His shaping method seemed very simple and straightforward and not as fussy as some others i’ve seen, and that approach of paring it down to its simplest elements appealed to me.
I’m pretty happy with the crust and the crumb and I’ve been experimenting with keeping some dough in the fridge so I can make them fresh daily, since baguettes are meant to be eaten the day they’re baked.
I made myself a nice little lame with one of my safety razor blades ane a piec of a bamboo skewer that works great, and I’m practicing the technique. One tip I found very helpful was to hold the blade almost horizontally when slashing, and to make the cuts almost parallel to the length of the baguette, which helps the cuts open up really beautifully in the oven.
My crappy little toaster oven is really perfectly suited doing to this sort of thing energy-efficiently, because I can only fit a couple of baguettes in it at one time anyway (alongside the loaf pan I use for steam).