Whole Wheat French Bread

I've been nervously eyeing and subsequently avoiding the French bread recipe for nearly a year now. It takes only four ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. It's "simple". But the simplicity of the ingredient list also makes it less forgiving than other breads. It requires thorough kneading. It must have a long, slow rise. Several, in fact. It must be baked with steam. And it should be shaped to maximize surface area and crust. You can't just drop it in a loaf pan and trust the pan to support it and give it the right shape. There are so many little details that have to be just so to get a good end result. And I didn't feel entirely comfortable diving into something like that.

I finally took the plunge though. And, all-in-all, it came out okay. I think it could've done with a little more kneading. And the room ended up being a bit too warm for the slow rise prescribed by the recipe. I did at least manage to get the steam and the crust right. And, while I'm sure there's still plenty of room for improvement, I'm pretty happy with my first attempt. It was tasty and crusty and lovely.

I forgot to snap a photo of my first French loaves, so here's a photo of one I did much, much later.

French Bread

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 600g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 225g soft (plain/pastry/standard) whole wheat flour¹
• 2 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 c. cold water²
• at least 1/2 c. additional water, for kneading

Directions

1. Add the yeast to the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine flour(s) and salt and mix well.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture and the cold water.
4. Working from the centre outward, gradually mix the flour into the liquids.
5. Turn the dough out onto your work surface and begin kneading. Wet your hands as you go, gradually incorporating more water into the dough. You want to work in at least an additional 1/2 c. of (cold) water.
6. If you are a very efficient kneader 20 minutes might be enough. Personally I would recommend at least 40 minutes of kneading (if you're doing it by hand). The dough will be relatively stiff when you start kneading it, but should be soft and silky by the time you finish.
7. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise. It is very important to let this dough rise in a COOL place! Do not try to warm it up or speed it up. The temperature should be 20°C (68°F) or less. Absolutely do not let the dough warm above 21°C (70°F)!
8. The first rise should take 2-3 hours. (Slower is better.) When it's done a hole made by a wet finger should stay, not fill in, not sink back. If it immediately begins to fill in, it needs more time to rise. If it sighs and sinks back, it's a sign that it's slightly overproofed³.
9. Knock the dough back. Press out as much gas as possible and maybe knead it a few strokes.
10. Shape it into a ball again and put it back in its covered bowl to rise again. The second rise should take ~2 hours at 20°C (68°F). Check when the rise is done as before, with a wet finger pressed ~1cm into the dough.
11. After the second rise, the dough is ready to shape. If you will be making batards, divide the dough into two equal portions. For baguettes, four equal portions⁴.
12. Shape each portion into a smooth ball, pulling the gluten taut across the surface. Cover lightly and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes. (20 if the dough seems at all sticky.)
13. Working with one ball of dough at a time, press into an oblong ~2/3 as long as you'd like the final loaf to be.
14. Grab each of the short ends and fold them in to meet in the middle. Press or roll to return the dough to the same thickness as the original oblong (~2.5cm/1" for a batard).
15. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and seal the edges.
16. Roll the dough back and forth, applying gentle pressure, to slowly work it out to the desired length.
17. Repeat with remaining balls of dough⁵.
18. Once the loaves are shaped, I like to transfer them to a cornmeal dusted baking sheet⁶ for their final rise.
19. Set in a cool place to rise, UNCOVERED. Unlike most breads, French bread does not want a humid environment for its final rise.
20. Place an empty pan (one that you don't mind potentially warping or rusting) on the bottom rack of the oven. Set the second rack above the empty pan.
21. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
22. Spritz risen loaves generously with water.
23. Slash the loaves. Be sure to cut long, nearly horizontal slashes. Do not cut down into the loaf⁷.
24. Quickly and carefully pour 1-2 c. of boiling water into the empty pan in the bottom of them oven.
25. Place the bread (on its cornmeal dusted pan) on the top rack above the pan of boiling water.
26. Bake in a hot, steamy oven for 10-20 minutes.
27. Once the crust begins to colour, remove the pan of water and reduce heat to 180°C (350°F) and continue baking for another 10-20 minutes. (More time for batards, less time for baguettes.)

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¹ I opted to use 825g of hard whole wheat flour instead of the mix of hard and soft. ^Back
2 If you use a machine to do your kneading, be sure to use ice water here, otherwise the dough will get too warm. ^Back
3 If your dough ends up over proofed, continue with the recipe as written but try to cool it down a bit for subsequent rises and do your best to catch it before it hits this point on the next rise. ^Back
4 Other shapes are also possible. I'm just sticking with a couple classics for simplicity. Feel free to experiment. Shapes that maximize crust/surface area tend to work best for French bread. ^Back
5 Batards and baguettes use the same shaping. Baguettes simply use half as much dough for a loaf of the same length so they end up much skinnier. ^Back
6 Cornmeal on its own is sufficient. I usually grease the pans first however as I find the grease helps hold the cornmeal in place and ensure a thin, even layer. ^Back
7 A vertical slash will cause the dough to fall open and spread sideways during baking. A (nearly) horizontal cut will encourage it to spring upward rather than outward. ^Back