How To Bake French Bread

How do I get better crust on my homemade french bread?

I like to bake french bread, but I can never seem to get a really crusty crust like in bread restaurants (e.g. Panera) I've tried spritzing with water, and basting with an egg milk mixture, but not getting the crust I want. Any suggestions?

Okay. This is going to sound crazy. But this is how we learned at culinary school, and this is how many restaurants bake their bread.....

preheat your oven to 450.
place bread on center rack
using a plastic spray bottle full of water, spritz the oven walls liberally with water and quickly shut the oven door.
bake three minutes and repeat once.
then bake as you normally would.

The steam from the water does it's little trick. It's similar to how bagels are boiled before baking to give them a crust.

I also suggest picking up a pizza stone. They are awesome for baking bread. They help draw moisture from the bottom of the bread, helping it "crust up"

Hope that helps!

How to Make French Bread


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