True to its name, this formula begins with a preferment called a poolish. I mixed flour, water, and a little yeast to make what looked like a thick pancake batter. I left it at room temperature to ferment for four hours and then put it in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I looked at the formula and realized I only needed one cup of poolish; I had followed the poolish formula and made about three cups. Rather than toss perfectly good preferment, I decided to make a double batch of baguettes using all the poolish and just add a little less water.
This formula calls for 1 3/4 cups sifted whole wheat flour. I don't have a fine sieve, so I followed the note on the side of the page and used 2 Tbsp unsifted whole wheat flour, substituting regular bread flour for the rest (but since I doubled it, it was 4 Tbsp). I mixed the dry ingredients and added the poolish and water; then I remembered that it's a dumb idea to use my smaller mixing bowl when I'm doubling a formula. But of course once one mixing bowl is dirty there is no way I'm going to transfer my half-mixed dough to the bigger one and dirty another dish. So I carefully mixed my dough and kneaded it, and left it to rise for two hours. After that first rise I kneaded it for a minute and left it to double again for two hours, as instructed. Then I shaped my baguettes. This formula normally makes three small baguettes; I made four large ones. They proofed for about an hour, then I preheated the over for hearth baking and scored them. These baked for about 20 minutes and came out quite beautifully.
The baguettes were soft and flavorful. J4 thought they would be perfect for sub sandwiches, but we never got around to trying it out. I think I did a much better job on these than I have in the past with French or Italian bread.
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