Sourdough Baguette Recipe (UK Home Oven Method)

A great baguette is one of the hardest things to make at home. The shape demands precision shaping; the crust demands serious oven heat and steam; the crumb demands properly developed gluten and fermentation. But all of these are within reach in a UK domestic kitchen with the right technique. This recipe has been refined across hundreds of bakes — sourdough baguettes you'd be proud to serve at a French restaurant.

The recipe

Ingredient	Weight	Baker's %
Strong white bread flour	500g	100%
Water	350g	70%
Active sourdough starter	100g	20%
Fine sea salt	10g	2%

Yields 3 baguettes (each around 280g).

What makes a great baguette

Three things, in this order:

1. Open crumb with irregular holes. A baguette without holes is just a long roll. The crumb should be light, glossy, with bubbles ranging from pinhole to large.
2. Cracking crust. The signature feature — audibly crisp, almost shattering when squeezed. Without this, the whole point is missed.
3. The shape. Long, slim, with neat tapered ends and dramatic diagonal scoring. Not as easy as it looks.

Any one of these is achievable. All three together is the challenge.

Method

Day 1, 8am — Build the levain

Take 20g of your active starter, feed with 40g flour and 40g water. Cover loosely. By midday it should be doubled and bubbly.

Day 1, 12pm — Autolyse

In a large bowl, mix the flour and 320g water (hold back 30g for the salt). Cover and rest 1 hour. The autolyse hydrates the flour and starts gluten development without yeast.

Day 1, 1pm — Add levain and salt

Add 100g levain and the 10g salt dissolved in the reserved 30g water. Pinch through to incorporate. The dough will be sticky, rough, and slightly worrying. That's correct.

Day 1, 1:30pm to 4:30pm — Stretch-and-folds

Four sets of stretch-and-folds, 30 minutes apart, then 1.5 hours undisturbed bulk:

• 2:00pm — Set 1
• 2:30pm — Set 2
• 3:00pm — Set 3
• 3:30pm — Set 4

The dough should feel smooth and elastic by Set 4. Continue bulk until 70–80% growth — typically another 1–1.5 hours.

Day 1, 5pm — Pre-shape

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured counter. Divide into 3 equal pieces (around 320g each). Pre-shape each into a loose oblong — fold from top to centre, fold the bottom up to overlap, then roll into a loose sausage. Don't be too tight at this stage.

Cover and rest 25 minutes.

Day 1, 5:30pm — Final shape

This is the trickiest part. To shape a baguette:

1. Pat the pre-shaped oblong into a 20cm × 12cm rectangle, with the long side facing you.
2. Fold the top third down to the centre.
3. Fold the bottom third up over that.
4. You now have a smaller, thicker rectangle.
5. Use the heel of your hand to seal a seam along the length, working from one end to the other.
6. Roll the dough tightly into a long log, pressing as you go to build tension.
7. Roll under your palms to extend the log to about 35cm long, with tapered ends.

Place onto a floured tea towel folded into pleats (the pleats keep the baguettes separate during proof) or on a floured baguette pan if you have one.

Day 1, 6pm to 7:30pm — Final proof

Proof at room temperature for 60–90 minutes, or cold-retard in the fridge for 8–12 hours for more flavour.

Same-day proof gives milder flavour but better shape retention. Overnight retard gives more flavour but slightly looser shape. Either works.

Day 2 (or same evening), 7:30pm — Bake

Preheat the oven to 250°C with a baking stone (or upturned heavy baking tray) on the middle rack and a roasting tin on the bottom rack.

Score the baguettes with three or four diagonal cuts down the length, slightly overlapping. The score should be 1cm deep.

Just before sliding the baguettes in, pour 200ml boiling water into the roasting tin to create steam.

Slide the baguettes onto the stone. Bake at 250°C for 12 minutes with steam, then 220°C for another 12–15 minutes without (just bake — the steam has done its job).

The crust should be deep amber-brown with the score lines opening to expose lighter dough beneath.

The crucial details

The shape technique

Most home baguette failures are shaping failures. The fold-and-roll technique builds tension that holds the shape during proof and bake. A loose shape spreads sideways and you bake a flat oval instead of a round-cross-section baguette.

The professional baker's trick: roll under your palms with light pressure outward as you extend the dough. The pressure should taper towards the ends, creating that classic pointed-tip baguette silhouette.

The steam

Steam is what gives the baguette its crackling crust. The water vapour keeps the surface elastic during the first phase of baking, allowing maximum expansion before the crust sets. Without steam, the surface sets too early and you get a hard, dull crust.

Domestic ovens don't trap steam well. The roasting tin trick (boiling water poured in just before the bread goes in) creates a burst of steam in the first 5–8 minutes of baking. After that, the steam dissipates and the crust starts setting.

The score

Three or four overlapping diagonal cuts down the length. Hold the lame at 30° to the dough surface. Each cut should be about 1cm deep and 6–8cm long, overlapping the next by 2cm.

The classic French scoring is what creates the signature baguette appearance — those flap-like ears that lift along the length as the bread expands.

Common baguette problems

Bake too pale: oven not hot enough, or insufficient steam. Increase preheat; ensure boiling water creates the steam burst.

Crust soft, not crackling: usually steam issue, or didn't bake long enough.

Tight crumb: hydration too low, or under-bulked. 70% is the floor for proper baguette crumb.

Flat baguettes: shape too loose. Build more tension during the fold-and-roll.

Tear in random places: score too shallow. Cut 1cm deep.

Baguettes spread sideways: proofed too long, or pleated tea towel didn't hold them straight. Use a baguette pan if you have one, or fold the tea towel deeper.

Variations

Wholemeal baguette

Replace 100g of flour with strong wholemeal. Increase hydration to 73%. Slightly tighter crumb but more flavour.

Multi-seed baguette

Add 50g mixed seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, poppy) at the second stretch-and-fold.

Olive baguette

Add 80g halved Kalamata olives (drained and patted dry) at the second stretch-and-fold.

Why bake baguettes at home?

Genuinely good fresh baguettes are hard to find in the UK outside major cities. Most supermarket baguettes are commercial-yeast products with weak flavour and crusts that go soft within hours. A properly-made sourdough baguette at home costs about 30p in ingredients and tastes vastly better than anything you'd buy.

The baguette is also one of the most romantic breads in the repertoire. The image of pulling a long crackling bread from your oven, cooling it on a rack, slicing it for breakfast with butter and jam — there's a reason it's the symbol of French daily life.

The French baguette tradition

The Parisian baguette as we know it dates to the early 20th century, possibly invented in response to a 1920 law that prevented bakers from working before 4am. The long, thin shape bakes faster than a round loaf, allowing bakers to start later and still have fresh bread for breakfast.

The classic Parisian baguette is around 65cm long and 250g. It's mostly white flour, mostly fast-fermented, mostly eaten the day it's baked. Sourdough baguettes are a more recent revival — bringing the depth and digestibility of sourdough to a format that traditionally relied on commercial yeast.

FAQ

How long should I bake?

22–25 minutes total — 12 with steam at 250°C, 10–13 without at 220°C.

Can I make this without a baguette pan?

Yes — bake on a baking stone with a tea-towel-pleated couche for proofing. Slightly less neat shape but otherwise identical.

Why three baguettes from 500g flour?

Standard baguette weight is around 250–300g. Three from 500g flour gives you three sensibly-sized loaves, each enough for one meal for two people.

How do I store baguettes?

Eat day one. By day two they're stale and best for croutons or French toast. Slice and freeze any leftovers within 12 hours of baking.

Why don't supermarket baguettes go stale this fast?

They contain dough conditioners and preservatives. Real bread without additives stales within 24 hours.

What if my oven only goes to 240°C?

Workable. Bake for the same time but expect a slightly less dramatic crust. Use the grill setting briefly at the end if your oven has one.

The reward

A homemade sourdough baguette, eaten still slightly warm with butter and a strong coffee, is one of the most romantic breakfasts in the kitchen repertoire. The crust shatters; the inside is tender and chewy; the flavour is deep and yeasty. Better than 95% of what you'd buy from a UK shop. Worth every minute of the work.

Once you can make baguettes at home, you've crossed an important threshold in your sourdough skill. The shape demands precision; the bake demands oven control; the timing demands attention. Master baguettes and almost every other loaf gets easier.

Baguettes the next morning

One of the small joys of homemade baguettes: morning toast. Slice diagonally for long pieces, lightly toast, butter, jam. The crust holds up to toasting beautifully, the soft interior takes the butter, and the whole thing has a Saturday-morning-in-Paris feeling that supermarket bread never quite manages.

For breakfast, also: tear an end off a baguette, dunk in milky coffee. Crude, French, perfect.

The skill ladder for baguettes

Don't try baguettes as your first loaf. The skill order:

1. Country loaf at 70%: foundation. 10+ loaves before progressing.
2. Higher hydration country loaves (75–80%): handling skills.
3. Wholemeal country loaf: bulk fermentation reading.
4. Olive sourdough: handling inclusions.
5. Ciabatta: very high hydration handling.
6. Baguettes: precision shaping.

By the time you're at baguettes, you've handled most of the technical challenges already. The new skill is purely shape — and that comes with practice.

What happens if you give up halfway

If your baguettes won't shape properly, you can salvage the dough. Bake them as 'demi-baguettes' (smaller, less precise shapes) or even just bake them as small rolls. The flavour is the same; only the visual identity is compromised. Don't bin a botched shaping attempt — bake it.