Feed your sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the bread so it is active and bubbly once you begin.

Combine your warm water and flour in a large bowl. You’ll want to let this mixture rest for 30 minutes for a process called autolyse.

Using wet hands, dimple in your sourdough starter to the rested flour and water mixture. Sprinkle the salt on top. Mix the dough for about 5 minutes so the dough comes together. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

After the resting period, this dough will need 6 rounds of stretching and folding in order to develop the gluten and obtain a nice rise. With the dough in the bowl, grab the edge of the dough firmly and pull up – stretching it upwards. Then place the dough in your hands into the center.

Turn the bowl about a quarter turn and do this stretch and fold again. Repeat this process one to two more times. This is considered one stretch and fold round.

Repeat according to the directions below. If the dough is too sticky, you can dip your hand in water.

First 3 stretch and folds – every 15 minutes.

Last 3 stretch and folds – every 30 minutes.

When you are finished with the 6 rounds of stretch and folds, cover the dough with a wet towel or plastic wrap. Allow it to bulk-ferment at room temperature until it has doubled.

On a clean work surface, divide the dough into three equal parts using a bench scraper. Pre-shape by providing slight tension and creating a ball with each piece of dough and allow to bench rest for about 20 minutes on the counter.

For the final shape, shape the baguette dough by gently stretching the dough out into a rectangle about 10” long by 5” wide. Fold one long side into the middle and press your fingers into the seam all the way down it to seal it. Repeat with the other long edge, so that there is one seam in the middle where the two sides meet.

Roll the dough over, so that it is seam side down, and gently create tension along the seam by pulling it against the counter. This will also elongate the shape as you continue to pull the dough. I like mine to be about 14” for a final length, so they can rest in my perforated baguette mold. Repeat for the other two pieces of dough.

Place your shaped baguettes in a baker’s couche or baguette tray or mold. A baker’s couche is a canvas cloth used to shape your baguettes. You could also make a DIY version using a tea or kitchen towel and a few clothes pins to help it keep its shape. If using a couche or cloth, you may want to place it all on a baking sheet so you can easily transport it.

The next day, preheat a baking stone (optional) at 500 degrees for about an hour. Although I don’t actually bake directly on the pizza stone, I like to have it in there to keep the oven very hot when I put the cold baguettes in. This helps them to poof up, also known as oven spring.

Get a pot or kettle of boiling water going. On the rack at the bottom of the oven, add a cast iron skillet.

Remove the baguettes from the fridge. Score the top of the dough with a razor blade with 3 or 4 fairly deep scores cut at a 45 degree angle.

Fill the cast iron skillet you placed in your oven with boiling water.

Spritz the top of the baguettes with water for browning.

Load the baguettes onto the stone. I leave mine in the perforated baguette pan, and place that on top of the stone. If you use a couche to shape your dough, remove the baguettes from the couche and place them directly on the stone. Do NOT put the couche in the oven. Carefully open the oven door, as you'll likely have quite a bit of steam come out once opened.

Reduce the heat to 450 degrees and bake for 35 minutes. In my oven, I achieve the best browning when I rotate the baguettes after about 20 minutes of baking.