At least this doesn't require a sophisticated answer!
I bought a metal baguette pan (cheaper version) like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004R91J?v=glance&n=284507&tag=froglallabout-20
Stupid question: Do I just let the baguette dough rise in it and then slide it onto a stone, or do I slip the whole thing in the oven and bake it right on the metal pan?
Edited to say that mine aren't perforated/nonstick - they're just the same shape.
Happy Holidays!
Sometimes I let them rise in the baguette pans ans then slide them on a baking stone, and a couple times I have baked them in the pans. For me it worked better if they are baked at a lower temperature, about 425F when I bake them in the pans. The time I baked them at a higher temp they got scorched.
Colin
I'm pretty sure these pans are made to be baked IN the oven. I proof them in the pan, and then set it on a very hot stone or oven hearth. The holes in the pan are meant to let the heat through. I found them most useful for full-size baguettes, which can be hard to load (especially in quantity) without deforming or deflating them. At home I generally make demi-bagettues, which are shorter and easier to manage, but at the bakery I liked these pans.
You can see this in store-bought or bakery loaves--most are baked this way. The bottoms have little circles on them :) A lot of big production bakeries use them because it's much easier and faster to load 6 baguettes at a time into the proofer and oven.
I tried baking in the pan and got a baguette that wanted to roll all over the table. Is there something I don't know?
Rosalie
I line my baguette pans with parchment paper, shape them and proof AND bake them in the pans. My dough is very slack and I was afraid that the dough might "squish" down into the preforations and I wouldn't be able to get the loaves out.
I bake mine about 400F and they have turned out nicely, so far.