⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (95 grams) water, room temperature (70°F/21°C)
⅛ teaspoon instant yeast
Dough:
1⅓ cups (169 grams) bread flour
⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (95 grams) cool water (60°F/16°C)
1¼ teaspoons (3.75 grams) kosher salt
¾ teaspoon (2.25 grams) instant yeast
Instructions
For poolish: In a medium bowl, combine flour, ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (95 grams) room temperature water, and yeast. Using your hand, stir until well combined and no dry spots remain, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours. (Mixture should be ripe and bubbly.)
For dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine poolish, flour, ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (95 grams) cool water, salt, and yeast. Beat at low speed just until dough comes together, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. (Dough may still look shaggy.) Switch to dough hook attachment; beat at low speed until elastic, about 2 minutes. (Dough will not be smooth at this point.)
Spray a medium glass bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) for 2 hours, folding gently every 30 minutes, until dough is soft and smooth. (To complete 1 folding sequence, grab underside of dough, stretch it upward, and then gently press into center of dough, repeating this motion 3 more times around bowl.) After fourth and final folding sequence, let dough stand 10 to 15 minutes.
Turn dough onto a very light floured surface; divide the dough into 3 portions (about 147 grams each). Working with one portion at a time, use your fingertips to gently press dough into a 5x2 ¾-inch rectangle that is about 1 inch thick; place dough horizontally on your counter. Take the top edge of the dough and gently stretch and fold the top third toward the center, sealing it with your thumb; take the bottom edge of the dough and gently stretch and fold over the first fold to the top of the dough and seal with your thumb. Roll dough portion over so the seam side is down. Set aside and cover with a greased sheet of plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining two portions of dough. Let dough stand for 15 minutes after shaping.
Place crisper Broiling Pan and Crisper Tray (12½x12½-inch) over a sheet of parchment paper; spray with cooking spray.
Work with one portion at a time, keeping other portions covered. Only lightly flouring surface as needed, gently shape dough into a 6.5x2.5-inch rectangle; place the portion horizontally on the counter. Take the top edge of the dough and gently stretch and fold the top third toward the center, pressing to seal. Take the bottom edge of the dough and gently stretch and fold the bottom third of the dough to meet first fold in the center, sealing with your thumbs. Moving from left end to right end, use your right thumb to depress along the center of dough while folding dough horizontally in half along the seam; use the side of your left thumb to firmly seal edges together. Roll and shape the dough as needed into an evenly thick 11.5-inch log with tapered ends. Place baguette, seam side down, on prepared pan, covering with a sheet of greased plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough.
Discard plastic wrap; using a lame or a very sharp paring knife, score bread with 6 long diagonal cuts.
Leaving parchment paper behind, place tray with baguettes on upper rack of oven. Set SHARP Superheated Steam Countertop Oven (SSC0586DS) to Bake/Reheat/Select/450°F/Select/10 minutes/Start.
Bake for 10 minutes. Transfer tray to lower oven rack. Bake for 5 minutes more. Carefully push baguettes together toward center of pan, and return to upper oven rack; bake until baguettes are golden brown and crisp, 5 to 8 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving or storing.
Recipe by Bake from Scratch at https://staging.bakefromscratch.com/french-demi-baguettes/