I have been unable to truly duplicate the results that bakeries get with
their french bread in any home oven that I've ever used. That's not to
say I haven't made some good french bread, but it's more hit and miss
than I'd like.

I haven't tried the King Arthur French-style flour yet, but the flour is
definitely important. Years ago I brought back a couple of kilos of
bread flour from a trip to France. I thought it made a positive
difference in the flavor and texture of the french bread I was trying to
make a the time, but that small quantity didn't last long enough to let
me experiment very much. Since then I've gone more toward whole grain
breads, so haven't played around with flours now available.

One thing that really did make a difference with French-style breads for
me was throwing some water into the oven to produce steam just after
putting in the loaves to bake. I think I got that tip from a Julia
Child TV show, but it was the single most significant improvement I saw
in quality of crust and texture of the breads I was making.

Bob
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In article .com>,
says...
> Has anyone used King Arthur's French-Style Flour for making baguettes?
> How was the crumb?
>
> I've been trying to make lite and tender baguettes for months now.
> I've tried all-purpose and bread flour. I just can't seem to get the
> kind of crumb that I would find in baguettes at a bakery. Might I be
> expecting too much from my conventional oven?
>
> I've tried using poolish, slow-rising the dough in the fridge, etc.
> Just can't get a lighter texture.
>
> Have you noticed any difference between using fresh yeast and instant?
>