Crusty French Bread

Great dough!! Just a tip to those who do not make bread often or are just begining to make bread, use the amount of flour the recipe calls for and really knead it well. This does 2 things, it helps to develope the gluten in the flour and it also helps the flour to soak in all the water. If you have a kitchen aid or something similer this is the time to use it. I needed about 2 rounded T. of more flour but that can be due to the fact that it was a wet rainy day out. The weather will alter the dough so if you are not used to working with yeast bread try it on a dry day first. This should be a soft spongy dough that is very elastic not a firm dry dough. Also, even with the mixer I still do the last 2 min. of kneading by hand. You have to FEEL the dough to get it just right. This will hold true for any yeast dough that you work with. I didn't make a traditional baton or round loaf either. I rolled it out a bit and made long cuts almost to the edge and spread the dough out to make it a bread that is a rip and dip. I coated the top with olive oil and sea salt. It came out very light with a great texture. If you like a soft crust place a damp clean dish towel over it as soon as it comes out of the oven. If you like it really crisp throw some ice cubes in the bottom of the oven to create steam, it will first soften the outside and then get really crisp. If it doesn't work out for you the first time keep trying. It is worth it. BTW, keep altitude in mind as well. Good luck.

I decided to add to this recipe. For the first mixing stage I added a half of a minced onion, and about 3 tbls. of minced garlic. When it was ready to roll out and be formed into loaves, I rolled up a mixture of crumbled 3 cheese blend. I put cornmeal on both the top and the bottom. Wow. Talk about yummy.

Excellent! Made a beautiful loaf. Followed recipe exactly, except I did not use the egg wash. Brushed with melted butter. Taste was perfection!

Great bread! Not the crustiest in the world, but this made for a great way to enjoy the extra sauce from the Thai Steamed Mussels we made from this site. The entire loaf was consumed by just two people :) I used someones tip of letting the dough rise in the oven with the light on, and that worked perfectly. I will use this tip for future loaves as well. I did have to use more flour than called for, but my loaf wasn't too dense at all, as some have complained. All in all a great, versatile loaf of bread. I would have just liked a bit more crustiness.

This was a good, basic recipe. Instead of vegetable oil, I used Extra Virgin and I put a pan of hot water in the oven to give it a crispier crust. The overall density of the bread was too heavy for me, but it was extremely tasty.

This baguette might have the crunchiest crust of any bread I've made -I've been looking for such a crust for quite a while! I also like the soft texture of the inside, and the taste too, although it might be a little bit sweet for me. I baked it for 25 mn and it was slightly overcooked, so next time I'll have to remember that. A good bread all in all, not quite like my favorite baguettes as for the taste and appearance, but definitely a keeper.

it must have been at least my tenth attempt at making my own bread, all previous attempts failed dismally, but this one WORKED!! and it was lovely, a sweet taste to it and nice and crusty, just what i like from a loaf of bread!

Great recipe! This turned out really well for me, which was a surprise because I don't have the best luck with making yeast breads; french bread, in particular. My loaves always come out flat and dense, but this recipe yielded a nice exception. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars, and not 5 is for two reasons: First off, after I shaped into a long loaf and put it to rise it wound up becoming flat and wide, just as all my other french bread attempts have turned out. Rather than baking it then I decided to re-knead, roll out into a rectangle, then roll up into a baguette shape... that was the ticket to a loaf that didn't lose volume or become flat after letting it rise for the 25 mins. Secondly, this bread turned out a little bland for me. I think next time I will put 2 tsp. of salt and use melted butter instead of the oil. Hopefully that will help. Aside from the two *very minor* fixes, this is a superb recipe that I will continue to use as a starting point. The dough worked up so perfectly, too, which was great. I couldn't believe how light and soft-textured it was, and kneading it was a complete pleasure... this turned out really pretty, too!

I must have done something wrong or maybe the weather outside had something to do with it but, this dough didn't get stiff until after about 4 1/2 cups of flour were added. Then it was rubbery. I managed to get it in the oven even though it delayed dinner by an hour. When it came out, It had risen and split apart along the side. When I cut into it, I found the texture inside not to be as light as I expected it was more dense. It was edible. My husband says he liked it. I liked the taste also but I know this recipe could have been better. Some things I did differently with it was that I used EVOO for the oil and used my kichenaid mixer with dough hook attachment to do the work for me. Perhaps this had something to do with it? My yeast was good and I bloomed it in water that was 114 degrees on the thermometer so that couldn't have been the problem. I served it with Hot spinach and artichoke dip also from this website.